text: Paula Radcliffe expects her emotions to spill over once more when she pulls down the curtain on her competitive running career in Subday's London Marathon. David Beckham memorably cried in the dying moments of his last appearance for Paris Saint-Germain, overwhelmed during the final moments of his professional football career. ‘I spent most of my career crying, didn’t I?’ said Radcliffe, laughing at the comparison, ‘I have done enough crying but I don’t know, I think the marathon does that to you anyway because you are so exhausted by the end of it, emotions are really close to the surface.’ World record holder Paula Radcliffe says she is likely to cry when she runs the final race of her career . Sunday's London Marathon will be Radcliffe's final competitive marathon of her career . Radcliffe joked that she has never been far from tears in her career, as she was at the 2004 Athens Olympics . Radcliffe has battled with an injury to her left foot, which made it difficult for her even to walk short distances two months ago, to make it to the start line. She will set off with the masses rather than the elite runners but the memory of her stunning 2hr 15min 25sec world record run in London in 2003 will not be far from her thoughts. Almost 12 years later no woman has come close to that mark, but Radcliffe insists her remarkable time was not a mixed blessing. ‘I would never call it double-edged,’ she said, ‘The longer it stands, and now as I get older and training gets harder, I appreciate it a lot more than I did. When I crossed the line I thought I could go and run faster.’ Thereafter Radcliffe’s career was plagued by injury and misfortune, particularly at the Olympics. She pulled out of the Athens 2004 marathon at 22 miles and sobbed at the side of the road. In Beijing four years later she wept as she struggled over the line in 23rd place. She was forced to pull out of London 2012. The former World Champion says she knows she got the best out of her career, despite several injuries . Radcliffe set the world record in 2003 when she won the London Marathon in a time of 2:15:25 . ‘Maybe my career was a little bit shorter because I ran so hard to do those times early on. But, still, I can look back and say I got the best out of myself that I was capable of doing.’ Radcliffe maintained she wanted to finish her career on her own terms and in London. ‘If you said to me you could run another marathon hard and be competitive but you’ll never be able to run again, I wouldn’t choose that. ‘I don’t want to do something that would jeopardise the health of my foot. I want to be able to run with my kids.’ The 35th London Marathon will double up as the IPC World Championships, and the women’s elite race sees Edna Kiplagat attempt to retain her title. The men’s race features a much anticipated battle between defending champion Wilson Kipsang — who is aiming for a third win —and the new world-record holder Dennis Kimetto, who makes his London debut.
target: Paula Radcliffe will retire from competitive running after London marathon .
  Radcliffe set the world record at the event in 2003 .
  And she says that she will be thinking of that moment during final race .