Officer Mairead Kelly is using her ability as a runner to chase a dream.
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Kelly holds the distinction of being the fastest female on the force. The 28-year-old rookie finished the 2021 NYC Marathon at 3 hours 3 minutes and 23 seconds -- the quickest time for a female officer in NYPD history.
Her time was so fast that she placed within the top 100 of all women competing in the marathon last year.
"Once the gun went off at the start of the race, I just felt amazing," Kelly said. "It was such a great feeling.. and I just went with it and I finished and I couldn't believe it. I was extremely surprised."
Kelly, who is assigned to a Midtown South precinct in Manhattan, has been with the NYPD for just one year.
While she was still in the Academy, she was asked to join the department's running team following an impressive achievement of setting a record for the mile and a half at 8 minutes and 36 seconds.
She was asked to run the marathon with the running club only two weeks before the big race. While she has run several marathons before, she wasn't training at the time.
"So that weekend I went out and I did a 20 mile run and I was like, alright I guess I can do it.. I still got it," she said. "So I just went for it."
Kelly attributes her love for running to her late grandfather who also inspired her to become a police officer.
She now serves as an inspiration while walking the beat and running races. For this year's marathon she has an impressive goal: to break three hours.
"If I break three hours, I think, I'd be over the moon," Kelly said.
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RELATED: More coverage of the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon
HOW TO WATCH THE TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON
Marathon Day in New York is coming up November 6th! The TCS New York City Marathon will be broadcast to more than 530 million homes around the world, with a Spanish language broadcast being produced nationwide for the first time by ESPN.
WABC-TV and ESPN2 have been home to the award-winning broadcast of the world's largest marathon since 2013.
It will be the first Spanish-language broadcast of any marathon to air on ESPN Deportes, airing live on ESPN3 and the App from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and then will re-air on ESPN Deportes from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EST.
Joining the talent team for this year's domestic broadcast will be five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and 13-time Paralympic medalist Kurt Fearnley and running reporter Chris Chavez. Fearnley will be in the broadcast booth as a race analyst for all four professional divisions, and Chavez will make his broadcast debut on the men's moto. John Anderson, Lewis Johnson, three-time Olympian and former American record-holder Deena Kastor, Sage Steele, and Olympian Carrie Tollefson will round out the national talent.
The group will be joined by a talented array of reporters at the start, finish, along the course, and in the sky, including ABC7's Eyewitness News reporters Ryan Field, Sam Ryan, Anthony Johnson, Kemberly Richardson, Michelle Charlesworth, Lee Goldberg, Brittany Bell, and Josh Einiger.
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The broadcast, produced in coordination with 45 Live and distributed by IMG, will air on ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN2 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST. Pre-race coverage from Fort Wadsworth begins at 7:00 a.m. EST.
The race will also stream live on the ESPN App nationally from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST.
Pre-race and continuing coverage will also be streamed live nationally on ESPN3 (accessible on the ESPN App and ESPN.com) from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ESPN3 will present a view of the finish line from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.
A two-hour encore presentation of the race broadcast will air on ABC affiliates around the country from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.
The international broadcast will include three-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and four-time British Olympian Paula Radcliffe providing race analysis, alongside veteran track and field commentator Paul Swangard.
International broadcast partners secured by IMG for the race include: FloSports (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom), ESPN Brasil (Brazil), SMG Sports (China), Eurosport (Pan Europe, Pan Asia, India), L'Equipe (France), RAI (Italy), TV Asahi (Japan), Sky Mexico (Mexico), NOS (Netherlands), Sky (New Zealand), SuperSport (Sub-Saharan Africa), ESPN International (South America), and TVE and TV3 (Spain).