The Lufbra Echo secured a precious few minutes with one of the greatest female athletes of all time. We find out what really makes her tick, secrets that she has never revealed and what she plans to do in the future. Plus- Athens: what really happened?
It’s 8:30am on a Sunday morning and I am knackered. For three hours and thirty two minutes, I have been chasing Paula Radcliffe’s brand spanking new Nike ‘UltraSwoosh, Special Edition Mark 323.43’ running shoes and to no avail- in that time, she has put over a minute into me. “Come on, you lightweight!” thunders her cheerless husband, Gary Lough, “Paula’s got another three runs to do today and you are holding her up!” I amble up to the front door of their Leicestershire mansion, where the couple are currently spending eight of their limited 92 days per year in the country. This is of course owing to the fact that they like Monte Carlo and hate the intrusion of the press. Nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that they save a wad of cash in tax revenue, you understand. Paula, now pregnant again, is stretching out her legs and I notice a tear rolling down her precious cheek. When I enquire what the matter is, she informs me that she was some eight seconds down on what she should have been for that run and Gary had shouted at her. “I’m not even tired,” affirms Radcliffe, “I wasn’t even trying hard. I just ran slower.”
We head inside, where I make the mistake of asking for a black coffee. “We have green coffee,” snaps Lough, “none of that horrid stuff.” Paula then explains: “Green Coffee has special immune properties that builds up your body’s ability to fight off infection and carry oxygen around in the blood.” Does it taste nice? “Oh yes- it is delicious. People who are interested should log on to the Green Coffee website for more information,” enthuses Radcliffe, with a knowing look in the direction of her husband. I decide to opt instead for water, but am then offered the choice between “oxygenised” or “non-oxygenised”. Confused, I go thirsty.
“You’ll have to excuse me while I work out on the cross trainer while we speak,” says Radcliffe as we head into a de-oxygenised chamber, “I am lacking aerobic fitness, you see.” The World Record holder over the marathon then glances at her Nike watch and breaks down in tears again. When pushed, she revealed that she was some three hundredths of a seconds slower moving from the morning kitchen to this room than she was last week. “It’s like everything is falling apart again,” she sobbed, “I work so hard to maintain this schedule.” After wiping her tears on a special Nike tissue (specifically designed to help you cry to the best of your ability), Radcliffe confidently marches towards the chamber- determined to make up time.
In the ominously entitled “work chamber”, Radcliffe then hooks herself up to various contraptions, including a specially designed Nike BabyMonitor+, built with your child’s future in mind. “It’s just great,” smiles the now content 2:15 marathoner, “it passes some of my ability on to my unborn child.” When pushed further, Radcliffe reveals that she was disappointed with her performance when giving birth to her first child. “I heard that Deena Kastor was much quicker. I need to work on my weaknesses and hopefully surprise a few people this time.” Radcliffe then took her special Nike Zoom Asthma Inhaler +++, which delivers the (completely legal) drugs to her lungs faster. “This is a lifesaver,” she says, “so important for someone who suffers with it [Asthma] like me.”
As she begins her workout (second of six scheduled for the day), I turn to the difficult topic of the Athens Olympics. “Oh, I did that deliberately,” blurts out Radcliffe, “you see, the British public hate winners and my Nike contract was up for renewal. Everyone likes a few tears at the side of the road. You’d be amazed how many people brought my book- which is still available- on the back of that!” Dumbfounded, I pushed further- what about Beijing? “I wasn’t as fit as Mara [Yamauchi, who finished 6th] and couldn’t bear the thought of not being the first Brit and so I made up this cramp problem. Worked a treat! The Daily Telegraph said I was ‘very brave’ and Nike gave me a 10% raise.” What does she plan to do in the years to come? “Probably drop out of a few more races and possibly try and win 2012. I’m a bit worried, in truth, as if you want to make the big bucks after you have retired, you really need an Olympic medal.” How did she enjoy commentating on the London Marathon? “I had to sit in a booth with that awful Geordie pair [Steve Cram and Brendan Foster] and so what do you think?” harrumphed the Bedford and County star, “they kept saying, ‘when I won my Olympic medal’ and followed it with a dull story. I made Cram’s career with my teary performance after dropping out of Athens and he is just ungrateful.” Radcliffe was referring to the interview she “would only give” to the former Olympic 1500m silver medalist after the marathon disaster.
As I left Radcliffe’s house, Nike Farm, she was heading out for her next run. Would I like to stay for lunch? Gary was preparing roast tadpole, which is very high in protein apparently. I decided to take my chances at McDonald's and so made my excuses.