She's won the London Marathon three times but this weekend Paula Radcliffe says she'll be happy to finish at all regardless of her position. The 41-year-old mother-of-two has battled back from injury to take part in the 26.2 mile race in the capital and a result won't be running with the other female elites but with the masses. She said this week: 'I'm going in unfit and unprepared for a marathon, but I'm hoping my body can remember once it gets out there how it's supposed to do it.' Scroll down for video . Paula Radcliffe finishes the London Marathon on Sunday after running with the masses to bring down the curtain on her professional running career . Paula was delighted she could return to London to run the marathon again . The mother-of-two has won the London Marathon three times, including in 2003 when she set her phenomenal word record time of 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds . 'Unfit' for Paula actually means a time most runners can only dream of, and she's still likely to clock one of the fastest times of the day from a British woman. It will be an emotional run for Paula who will be presented with the the inaugural John Disley Lifetime Achievement award in honour of her achievements, which include setting a still unbeaten world record time of 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds in London in 2003. Her great success over the years has also come with some heartache as she has never won an Olympic medal and often been let down by her body as she's pushed it to her limits. So as she prepares to run the marathon - supposedly for the last time - FEMAIL looks back on the career of the inspirational running super mother... Paula started running for Bedford and County from a young age, left, and won numerous races as a junior before progressing to take the European cross-country in 1998, right . The GB vests kept coming but she missed out on a medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 . Paula gave her all at the 2000 Olympics but was out-sprinted in the final moments and finished fourth . Paula's talent for running was evident from a young age and, under the coaching guidance of Alex Stanton at Bedford and County Athletics Club, she became accustomed to winning races on the domestic circuit. By the time she was a teenager, she had pulled on the first of her many Great Britain vests, winning junior races at the World Cross Country Championships and on the track. As a student at Loughborough University, she gained a first-class degree in modern languages while continuing to keep up her training regime. It was as student that she met her husband, Gary Lough - himself a talented middle distance runner - who went on to become her manager and training partner as well as the father of her two children. After leaving university, Paula embarked on her career as a full-time athlete and continued to have success in cross country races and on the track. She again lost out on a medal at the 2001 World Champs - which led to a public spat with husband Gary Lough who shared her disappointment . It was in Edmonton that Paula also made her stance on drugs in sport clear . But at major championships her valiant efforts to win a medal kept resulting in her getting out-sprinted in the home straight. She was fourth in the 5000m at the 1997 World Championships, fifth at the European Championships over 10,000m a year later and then fourth at the Sydney Olympic Games. At the World Championships in Edmonton in 2001 she was determined to make the podium - but after front-running she was again out-kicked in the final lap. This disappointment was her most famous as it led to a very public row with Gary - who criticised her race tactics when many thought he should have been consoling her. Gary was portrayed as a villain in the press - something that hurt the couple deeply. Success came on the track in 2002 as she won gold at the European Champs . She also took the gold in the 2002 Commonwealth Games 5k in front of a home crowd in Manchester . Her popularity soared as she was awarded an MBE in June 2002 and later that year was voted the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year, pictured here holding the coveted trophy . Speaking to the Evening Standard in 2012,  Paula said such heated arguments occur because: 'Gary understands what makes me tick and wants to support me as much as he can to achieve that. 'Sometimes that can cause blow ups - we are both strong-minded individuals but we have always said to each other that we should say what we want all the time. We never sleep on an argument because that is dangerous.' It was also in Edmonton that Paula made a public stand against drugs cheats holding up a banner saying 'EPO cheats out'. She's remained a staunch anti-drugs campaigner throughout her career and has called for tougher testing measures. Despite this, she's also had to face accusations that she couldn't have achieved her marathon World Record clean - as it's a time that hasn't been surpassed in 12 years. She said earlier this year she finds such unfounded accusations 'horrible'. 'I get it all the time. People saying "she couldn't have run 2.15 clean" but I know I can be totally proud,' she said. In 2003 she smashed the marathon world record as she won in London . In 2003 her form on the roads continued as she set also world records over 5k and 10k . But at the 2004 Athens Olympics, she was forced to drop out of the race despite being favourite to win . Paula was devastated she couldn't finish the Olympic marathon as her body was depleted by medication she had to take following a collision with a bike in training beforehand . The athlete felt she'd let everyone down and cried at the press conference . 'It makes you think we have to put a system in place that protects clean athletes. There will be some Russians athletes who are not cheating, there are a lot of Kenyan athletes out there who are not cheating and they are all being lumped together. It spoils it so we have to do something to protect them and the sport.' Paula bounced back from the disappointment in Edmonton to have a victorious year in 2002 over all terrain. She won the World Cross Country Championships and the London Marathon and finally took gold medals on the track at the Commonwealth Games and then the European Championships. She bounced back from the Olympic disappointment to take victory at the London Marathon again in 2005 . But the race will be remembered for the toilet stop she took en route . She also won a gold medal at the World Champs in 2005 over the marathon distance . Her popularity soared as she was awarded an MBE in June 2002 and later that year was voted the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year. In 2003 she ran her incredible world record marathon time pushing the pace from start to finish without another competitor in sight. She also set world records over 10k and 5k on the roads in the same year. As a result, in 2004 she went into the Athens Olympics marathon as the firm favourite and hopes were high that she would finally win the gold Olympic medal she deserved. But it was not to be. In training before the race, an collision with a cyclist led to an injury for which she had to take anti-inflammatory medication. The medicine depleted her system but she was determined to still race. However, her weakened body could not take the pace and she was forced to drop out of the race in tears. She later said the time that followed was 'traumatic' as she felt like she'd let the nation down and Gary admitted in ITV4's Sports Life Stories that the media attention almost led to him having 'a nervous breakdown'. The following year her success winning the London Marathon again was overshadowed by the fact she had to stop for a very public loo break on the side of the road. At the press conference afterwards, Paula laughed off the embarrassing incident explaining her need for the toilet was giving her stomach cramps and 'the main thing was to win the race'. Later that year, she won another gold medal in the World Championships over the marathon distance. Paula and Gary moved to Monaco and started a family as daughter Isla was born in January 2007. Less than a year later, Paula was back to winning ways taking victory at the New York Marathon. Daughter Isla was born in 2007 and months later, Paula won the New York marathon . But in 2008, she was disappointed to finish 23rd in the Beijing Olympics as her training was interrupted by injury in the build up. She's pictured here being consoled by friend and fellow GB runner Liz Yelling . Son Raphael was born in 2010 but injury again ruined her attempts to resume her running career . Once again she became an inspiration and proved to other elite female athletes that you can combine motherhood with a successful running career. In 2008, Paula lined up at the Olympics again but injury in the build-up to the race meant she missed vital training and she wasn't fit enough to compete with the best on the day. She finished in 23rd place and was once again upset she couldn't fulfill her potential at the Olympics. Later that year she won the New York marathon and then took another career break to have son Raphael. Since then, she returned to competitive running but was often thwarted by injury causing her to pull out of major competitions. In 2012, Paula had surgery on a long-standing foot problem in the hope it would mean she could run again . The surgery worked and Paula will now return to run the streets of London this weekend . The athlete said she's delighted to be back in the capital and Sunday's race will be 'really special' A foot problem meant running in the London 2012 Olympics was out of the question - in fact doctors were worried she may never run again. She kept up her interest in athletics becoming a commentator for the BBC and supporting grassroots running. Following surgery in 2012, she was relieved to be able to run again and is delighted she can now run the London Marathon again, albeit not at full fitness. She said of Sunday's race: 'I know I am not going to be competitive but to get the chance to take part in this race one more time is something that is really special.'
41-year-old mother-of-two has battled back from injury .
Will take part in London Marathon on Sunday but won't race competitively .
She set marathon world record on the course in 2003 .
But also suffered embarrassment with loo stop in 2005 event .