Marathon Mom Ran Through Pregnancy

Paula Radcliffe, holder of the best women’s marathon time ever, will run the New York City Marathon Thursday, her first since giving birth last year. But pregnancy never slowed down Radcliffe, who kept running up until the day before her daughter was born. “As far as I know, no one has ever done what she’s done,” one researcher told the New York Times.

Legend has it that pregnancy helps women runners, but no one is keen to do dangerous research on the subject. Radcliffe knew she wanted to run during her pregnancy, but worked out a close monitoring system with her doctors, including heart rate limits and monthly ultrasounds. As a result, Radcliffe says she has more endurance – and happiness – than ever before. (More marathon stories.)