A celebrity doctor known as ‘ Healing Hans ’ has played a key role in getting Paula Radcliffe to the start line for Sunday ’ s London Marathon . ‘ I was close to pulling out , ’ she admitted . ‘ There was definitely a point I was worried because I thought , “ God , if I can ’ t run for 45 minutes , I can ’ t get round a marathon ” . ’ Instead Radcliffe turned to renowned German doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt , who has worked with the likes of Ronaldo , Michael Owen and Usain Bolt . World record holder Paula Radcliffe said she 'was close to pulling out ' of the London Marathon on Sunday . But Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt , who has worked with Ronaldo , has made sure Radcliffe will race . Despite a very public split with Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola last week , Muller-Wohlfahrt joined an American foot surgeon , orthotics specialists in Belgium and physiotherapists at British Athletics to make sure Radcliffe will reach the start line for her final competitive marathon on Sunday . The 750,000 who are expected to pack the 26.2-mile course from London ’ s Blackheath to Pall Mall will not witness a Radcliffe of 2003 vintage . Her world record time of 2:15:25 still stands 12 years later but the 41-year-old will be nowhere near that mark this time , setting off with the good club runners rather than the elite women . Finishing the race will be a victory of sorts for her after fearing a degenerative injury to her foot would rule her out . ‘ I was in Kenya and training was going well , ’ she said . 'But because the trails are pretty rocky out there I tweaked my achilles . I went down to Font Romeu ( her training camp in Italy ) and it snowed there so I did a couple of runs on the treadmill . Maybe because it was harder on the treadmill my achilles started to get really sore. ’ Sunday 's London Marathon will be Radcliffe 's final competitive marathon of her career . Celebrity doctor Muller-Wohlfahrt ( left ) , known as ‘ Healing Hans ’ , recently German giants Bayern Munich . The turning point came four weeks ago while on a run in the park near her home in Monaco with daughter Isla , eight . ‘ She was on her bike and it ’ s quite hilly so I was more impressed that she kept up . 'From that day , I ’ ve been able to gradually increase it and get back , with ice buckets after every run , and I ’ m just really grateful to everyone who has helped me . ‘ If I was being competitive I would have pulled out five weeks ago . But I ’ ve just been there so many times and this time I just thought it doesn ’ t matter if I run it in three hours or 2:45 . ‘ I ’ m almost there and I ’ m hoping my body will remember a little bit once I get running . ’
Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt has been working with Paula Radcliffe . Radcliffe admits she was close to pulling out of Sunday 's London Marathon . The annual race will be Radcliffe 's final competitive marathon of her career . German doctor Muller-Wohlfahrt has previously worked with Muller-Wohlfahrt .