Paula Radcliffe's amazing race for the summit

When the pain is at its most intense on the long training runs in the high desert of New Mexico, Paula Radcliffe has taken to using a visualisation technique to drive herself on.

She imagines she is in London, a city in which she has never lost a marathon, and that she is racing towards the finish line of the 2012 Games, the roar of home fans ringing in her ears, to claim what would be one of the most emotionally charged victories in Olympic history after her meltdown in Athens in 2004 and injury-hit Beijing campaign in 2008.

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