Paula: My Story So Far

Paula Radcliffe has managed to be both very successful in her field and incredibly popular with the Great British Public. She was the underdog for so long -- narrowly missing out on medals in the 1999 World Championships and the 2000 Sydney Olympics -- that fans longed to see her win. Paula's rosy manner hides a tough resolve to succeed and in 2002 her luck began to turn. She won gold medals at both the Commonwealth and European championships and started to grab the headlines, bringing Britain's focus back to athletics. Paula's bravery is not limited to the track, however. She has become a passionate spokesperson against drug cheats and, inspired by her own battle with the condition, she is widely admired for her patronage of asthma charities. And even though Athens in 2004 proved to be more Greek tragedy than triumph, her popularity remains undimmed. Her remarkable life story of highs and lows is fully chronicled in this fascinating and inspiring autobiography.

‘Gripping’
Times 13/11
' The greatest distance runner of her time . . . The book is about the fierce and bloody effort of winning. The toothy grin and the draped flag may say Our Paula, but the vastus medialis says something quite different’
Bryan Appleyard, SUNDAY TIMES
'Paula's highs and lows in the gruelling world of long-distance running makes for a fascinating read' SUN
'So why exactly did our Paula stop running and sit tearfully on an Athens pavement? There were plenty of extenuating circumstances. She had suffered a leg injury shortly before the Olympics and anti-inflammatory medicines had affected her digestion. Determined to run, but afraid, she was highly stressed. Such explanations are not excuses, for she remains almost as bewildered as she was when she stopped. Indeed, the most plausible reason she gives is that although her mind was willing, her body just rebelled. It seems sad that someone who insists she runs for the joy of is should have driven her body beyond the limit. "Athens was devasting," she writes "but I will get over it and move on." She already has.' SUNDAY TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEAR
'Paula Radcliffe is held in great affection by the British public. Her name is synonymous with grit and honest determination , and her many thwarted attempts at the highest prizes in her sport have compounded the interest taken in her fortunes . . . Cheerful, frank and interesting on the pressured life of a professional of athlete. Paula comes across in print as per her reputation: determined, charming and thoughtful’
Matthew Alexander, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
PAULA: My Story So Far by Paula Jane Tomlinson, Woman of the Year
“I would most like to receive Paula Radcliffe’s autobiography” Jane Tomlinson
Sunday Express 5/12
‘But though her failures will be remembered, they will not define her career, and they do not detract from the pleasures of this book. Unassuming yet inspirational, like the woman herself, PAULA is shot through with the staggering single-mindedness and determination that has produced so many wins and records'
Chris Maume, INDEPENDENT
'Disarmingly frank' Simon Turnbull, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
‘No story that came out of that heady fortnight in August was better than Paula Radcliffe's . . . It's our knowledge of [Paula's failures] that lends pathos to the expert telling of Radcliffe's life and career, for which ghostwriter David Walsh must take a lot of credit . . . In book terms, what happened to Radcliffe was the next best thing to becoming Olympic champion. This is a terrific read – full of nice human touches from someone whose place in the public’s heart was certainly not affected by Athens...the book is now the fastest seller in the sports list’ Simon O'Hagan, INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
Favourite Sports Books of the Year
Athletics, Mike Rowbottam
'Paula Radcliffe's roller coaster year had one loop remaining by the time she finished her autobiography, My Story So Far - a victory in the New York marathon which tipped her fortunes upright again after the trauma of grinding to a halt in the Olympic marathon. This book is as thorough an account of a life admirably led as one might expect from the most thorough of athletes. No doubt the plan was to bring it out with a final chapter on her long-awaited triumph in Athens - as it was, the last part of the book describes the crushing disappointment of what she describes as the biggest failure of her career.
In the wake of Athens, Radcliffe analysed what went wrong to the point where she was lying awake at nights in anger and frustration, and if there is an obsessive feel to her conclusions, there is also a glimpse into the mind of a woman whose dedication has taken her to the very peak of her sport.
The book is enriched by the regular interpolations of Radcliffe's husband and manager; Gary Lough. Some observers of the sport have criticised the intensity of this relationship, and Lough himself acknowledges that the strength of his commitment to his wife's success has sometimes been counter-productive. But what comes through from his comments is a fierce love and admiration for the woman who is still generally regarded as the finest female distance runner in the world' INDEPENDENT
'Honest, gritty and full of incident . . . there are some delightful stories . . . there are some valuable lessons too . . . frighteningly impressive . . . the book is still inspirational stuff. How she overcame so many hurdles and disapointing performances is hugely motivational. . . David Walsh of the SUNDAY TIMES did an excellent job . . . an essential read that should be on every athlete's Christmas wish list. . . very interesting' Jason Henderson, ATHLETICS WEEKLY
‘Paula Radcliffe’s capitulation in the marathon remains one of the most enduring images of the Athens Games and her memoir gets to the heart of that calamity’
THE TIMES
‘She is one of Britain’s greatest-ever athletes and deserves to be celebrated as such’
Sunday Times 13/11