Paula Radcliffe has announced that she is retiring from road racing at the age of 51 after finishing the Boston Marathon on Monday. The former marathon world record holder said she was “signing out on the roads” after completing the set of six major world marathons majors, with Boston adding to London, Chicago, New York, Berlin and Tokyo. Radcliffe finished the Boston Marathon with a time of 2 hours 53 minutes 44 seconds, placing her 117th out of 12,447 women that took part, and received the Six Star Medal before revealing it would be her final event. Providing a suitable conclusion to a marathon career that has spanned over two decades, Radcliffe raced in the number 215 bib at Boston, reflective of her 2:15:25 world record, set in London in 2003. ‘Wow, thank you Boston. My calf went at 9 miles and I couldn’t go full out from then on, but on the plus side the foot is great and I got to savour and enjoy those Boston Marathon crowds. Pain was so worth it for that World Marathon Majors six star,” Radcliffe said on Instagram. “That’s me signing out on the roads now! Lesson learned that my body is done with that.” Beginning her career at Bedford & County Athletics Club, Radcliffe went on to compete at four consecutive Olympic Games between 1996 and 2008 in the multiple long-distance events, setting a new British Record at Sydney 2000 in the 10,000m. It was her success outside of the Olympics as a marathon runner, however, that made her a household name. Making her debut at the London Marathon in 2002, she set a new world record of 2:17:18 in Chicago later that year. Radcliffe then lowered her own marathon world record to 2:15:25 at the 2003 London Marathon, a record which stood for 16 years.