Ten years ago today, Paula Radcliffe set her first world record in her second marathon – on the streets of Chicago.

For the British runner, victory in 2 hours 17min 18sec completed an annus mirabilis after so many years of narrow and excruciating failures. In the summer she had earned Commonwealth Games gold in Manchester, turning her 5,000 metres, effectively, into a series of laps of honour before an adoring, Union flag-waving crowd, before going on a week later to take the European 10,000m title in the driving rain of Munich.

The year had begun in triumph, too, as she had made her long-awaited move up to the marathon distance and won the London Marathon in 2:18:55, the world's best time for a women's only race and just eight seconds shy of the world record set by Kenya's Catherine Ndereba in the previous year's Chicago marathon.

Now, of course, we look back on Radcliffe's performance in the Windy City and see it in the context of her career. It was a huge step that would be followed by an even greater stride at the following year's London Marathon, where she won in 2:15:25, one of the all-time great athletics performances and a time which has still not even been approached by any other runner.

But let's not jump ahead of ourselves – because this first world record was not the certainty that it now appears, as the testimony of male runner who accompanied – but did not actively pace – Radcliffe in Chicago makes clear.

Writing in April 2003 on LetsRun.com, the outstanding website which he co-founded, Weldon Johnson (WeJo) – a top class US collegiate runner with realistic hopes of qualifying for the 2004 Olympics – detailed how he had been chosen by the Chicago Marathon race director Carey Pinkowski to serve as one of the "rabbits" for the elite women in what was, like so many other big City marathons, a mixed race.

Weldon Johnson "escorts" the pack during the Chicago Marathon, October 2002

On this occasion, however, Johnson and his handful of fellow pacers had been told by Pinkowski to scrupulously avoid the traditional pacing role of running ahead to lower wind resistance.

"We want you to run at the side [off camera] more as an escort to set a rhythm and to warn men runners that the convoy is coming through," Pinkowsi had written in an email.

"We want to stress the ESCORT nature rather than the pacing. Don't hand the lead women water or start running alongside, coaching and encouraging."

It was rabbit in the Chas & Dave sense which ultimately proved most helpful to Radcliffe as she strove to maintain the pace she needed on a day when the Windy City provided a stiff 20 miles per hour breeze into the face of runners over the first seven miles and the final four.


Runners race through Grant Park in downtown Chicago at the start of the 25th annual Chicago Marathon in 2002

"Radcliffe was in front of the women's race the entire way," Johnson wrote. "But Catherine Ndereba and Yoku Shibui of Japan were in the back of the pack that surrounded Paula.

"As time went on, more and more men fell from the pack, but both Ndereba and Shibui hung close to Radcliffe, well under world record pace. I'm not sure if Radcliffe ever knew they were there because not once the entire race did she ever look back."

Right there was the mark of the champion. Radcliffe was locked onto her target like a laser-guided missile.

By the 16th mile Radcliffe was moving clear of her nearest female challenger, and by 18 miles Ndereba was 20 seconds down.

"Paula was pouring it on during the final miles of the race," Johnson recalled. "If the second half of the marathon really begins at mile 20 then Paula was in great shape as she ran 5min 09.8sec and 5:11.6 for the 21st and 22nd miles.

Paula Radcliffe celebrates as she crosses the finish line in record time in the 2002 Chicago Marathon

"I had originally only planned on going 20 miles with the leader, but I felt good at that point and wanted to make sure Paula got the world record....However, I had forgotten one thing, the wind. It had been mostly at our back since mile seven. At the start of mile 23 we made a turn to head north for home and the wind hit us straight in the face. The running got considerably tougher now, and I'm not sure what I was thinking except how difficult it was. I knew in the back of my head it would be perfectly legal under IAAF rules to get right in front of Paula and help her break the wind. But the race had stressed to us our role as escorts...

"Paula asked me what the split for the 23rd mile was and I looked at my watch and said '5:23', thinking that was a perfectly reasonable amount to slow down running into a 15 or 20 miles an hour wind. I was caught by surprise by Paula's reaction. 'Whaaat', she yelled, definitely upset. I guess slowing down is not in the cards when you're Paula Radcliffe. She proceeded to put down her head and push the pace down faster, running 5:09 for the next mile with much of it into the same killer headwind. It was truly incredible (and painful if you ask me)...

Paula Radcliffe hugs defending marathon champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya

"Once we hit the 25-mile marker I started jogging with a big smile on my face. My job was done, Paula would smash the record, and I could enjoy the final mile...

"I had seen at first-hand what an amazing athlete Paula is, but also her complete dedication (and I mean total dedication that I believe no other athlete in the world has) to the sport.

"It's hard to believe, but a year ago this week before Paula had won the London marathon she was regarded as a gallant loser by all of Britain...

"She might throw caution to the wind and really go for it in London..."

Johnson's prediction on the eve of the 2003 London Marathon proved correct. Radcliffe did go for it. But her feat in Chicago, rounding off a year of success, established her at a new level in the sport.

The British papers were full of her achievements. Tom Knight, in the Daily Telegraph, hailed Radcliffe as "one of the giants of long-distance running." Some character named Mike Rowbottom wrote in The Independent: "There is no question now that 2002 will always be remembered as an annus mirabilis for the runner. But even that description underplays the intensity of Radcliffe's performances - it has taken her less than seven months to compile a sequence of wins unparalleled in women's athletics." Another character named Duncan Mackay wrote in The Guardian: "Even in the greatest year any female athlete has put together, 28-year-old Radcliffe was truly awesome. What was supposed to be a head-to-head between her and Ndereba was in fact Radcliffe against the clock..."

Paula Radcliffe holds up her first place trophy after winning the Chicago Marathon with a new world record of 2:17:18

Pat Butcher, writing in the Financial Times, commented: "Combined with her runaway London marathon, Commonwealth Games and European Championships titles, the record puts Radcliffe in a stratosphere unoccupied by a British athlete since the days of Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett in the 1980s."

The Chicago Tribune's Skip Myslenski wrote: "She had travelled here intent on breaking the world record and went after it relentlessly, undeterred by the wind or the cold or the threat of two-time defending champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya. From the start Radcliffe resembled a predator stalking helpless prey, and like a well-oiled metronome she ticked off miles that kept the record within her reach."

And in the Daily Mail, Neil Wilson looked ahead. "The possibility is growing," Wilson wrote, "that the encore to her world record will start at the Greek town of Marathon, which gave the event its name, in August 2004 at the Olympic Games."

Oh dear. Now we really are jumping ahead of ourselves.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames.