Paula Radcliffe felt the full effects of her world record time at the 2003 London Marathon.
The legendary long-distance runner smashed her own record time in the British capital 22 years ago.
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Radcliffe had previously claimed the first of her three London Marathon victories the year before.
However, she would finish with a staggering time of 2:15:25 in 2003 to break her own world record by almost two minutes.
The time was also three minutes faster than any other woman had achieved at the time.
Radcliffe completed the race at a pace of 5mins 9secs per mile to make history.
Her world record stood for 16 years before Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei finally surpassed it in 2019.
The British runner soon felt the effects of her exertion just moments after crossing the finishing line.
Radcliffe had achieved her record time by sprinting the final 800m of the race in just 2mins 25secs.
However, it left her looking pale and passing blood in a portable toilet before completing her media duties.
She even resorted to rocking backwards and forwards to ease the pain of her stomach cramps.
Radcliffe was finally able to indulge with chips and Coca Cola in the hours after the marathon.
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Reflecting on the race in 2013, she highlighted the support she received from husband and coach Gary Lough.
The former athlete told The Guardian: “Looking back you think, ‘Oh actually that was a really big deal at the time’.
“But I was so ready to run that and believed that was what I’d do that day that it wasn’t a massive big shock or a surprise.
“From the start we all said we mustn’t set a limit on it. That was our motto at the time: no limits.
“The only time I really knew exact times was somewhere along the Embankment, Peter Elliott came alongside me because he was on the BBC camera bike and Gary had told him to shout to me.
“He said: ‘Gary says if you hurry up you can get under 2:16!’ In my head I answered: ‘Screw Gary, I’m going as fast as I can.’”
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Radcliffe was not satisfied with her own performance, though, believing she could still record a quicker time.
She added: “I was still thinking I can run quicker than that, I can train harder. I remember Dave Bedford saying he never thought he’d see anyone come near that time for a while.
“And I remember thinking, ‘Well, that’s not right, I’m going to come back and beat it next year.’ I really did think I would.”
After not appearing in 2004 to prepare for the Athens Olympics, Radcliffe returned the following year in search of her third triumph.
She recorded a time of 2:17:42 in a race which is perhaps better known for her taking a stop for a toilet break and still win comfortably.
“I was losing ten seconds every mile because my stomach was cramping,” Radcliffe said. “I had to stop and go.
Paula Radcliffe left absolutely BAFFLED by Alan Brazil’s half marathon time
“I felt ropey around the 16-mile mark but went on for too long. I didn’t want to have to resort to that in front of thousands of people.
“I didn’t spot any Portaloos nearby but then it would have taken me ages to get back through the crowd and I’d probably have had to sign autographs on the way back.
“I was struggling with my stomach and it was nothing like the problems I had in Athens. I just needed to go to the loo and once it went it was fine.”
Radcliffe would go onto retire at the 2015 edition of the race but returned to action this year in both Tokyo and Boston.