Lyubov Denisova
Age: 31
Country: Russia
Personal best: 2:26:17 (New York, 2002)

Champion of the 2002 Los Angeles Marathon, 2001 Grandma's Marathon, and 2001 Long Beach Marathon, Denisova ran second at the 2002 New York City Marathon, finishing 21 seconds behind Joyce Chepchumba. Denisova's 2:26:17 showing at New York was more than a 2:30 improvement on her best time. Competing under her maiden name of Belavina in the late 1990s, Denisova specialized in the 10,000 meters and the Half-Marathon and also ran a few marathons. In 1998, she finished third at the Twin Cities Marathon and fourth at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn. She married her coach, Maxim Denisov, in 1999 and in 2000 gave birth to her daughter, Anastasiya. In her first marathon after the birth, Denisova placed fourth at the 2001 Hong Kong Marathon. She followed that in June with her first US marathon win at Grandma's. In September of 2001, she placed seventh at the BUPA Great North Run. In October she ran the Twin Cities Marathon and placed 11th, and a month later she won the Long Beach International City Marathon. In 2002, Denisova finished second at both the Naples Daily News Half-Marathon and the Austin 3M Half-Marathon before her 2:28:49 win in Los Angeles. Denisova finished the year with a first at the Outback Distance Classic Half-Marathon in 1:13:48.