By David Monti, Special to Universal Sports

NEW YORK -- When the 45 athletes in the all-women's professional race at Sunday's ING New York City Marathon step to the starting line, some of the sport's greatest marathon veterans will be on the front row hungry for victory and a big payday: world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe, two-time world champion Catherine Ndereba and three time Olympic medalist Gete Wami lead the list.

But just a few steps behind them will be a petite, and largely unknown, teenager named Ilsa Paulson. Originally from Sherwood, Ore., where she graduated from high school in 2007, Paulson has been a professional runner for just six months. She may be the most extreme case of a recent movement amongst young distance runners who have decided that stepping up to the marathon while they are still young is a better career move than first spending years trying to improve their track times.  Paulson, 19, will be racing twice as far as she ever has in her life.

"It's a dream come true," Paulson says from her training base in...