Ten Months After Giving Birth, Paula Radcliffe Wins New York City Marathon

Last year, when Paula Radcliffe announced that she was pregnant, it seemed like that it could have been the end of her career as a world-class athlete. She was already 33 years old and struggling with foot and back injuries, and pregnancy and motherhood tend to make training difficult.

But today Radcliffe, who gave birth to Isla on Jan. 17, won the New York Marathon.

"I've really, really missed it," Radcliffe said. "It's way more fun than cross training in a pool or cross training in a gym, and that's what it's all about. That's what keeps me motivated to work hard and to cross train hard is just getting out there and enjoying the atmosphere."

Although the British Radcliffe finished well short of the world record of 2:15:25 that she set in London in 2003, her time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, 9 seconds beat the Ethiopian Gete Wami by 23 seconds. The bridges and hills of the New York course, which spans all five boroughs, makes New York more difficult than London, but it seems that no obstacle can slow Radcliffe.