Meredith Fitzmaurice was 90 minutes into a 13.1-mile half-marathon in Ontario when she checked her pace and realized she should have already crossed the finish line. Confused, the 34-year-old Canadian consulted with a race official riding a bicycle. They figured out Fitzmaurice made a wrong turn and was actually on the course for the full marathon.

Fitzmaurice had never run a full marathon before — she hadn’t run more than 20 miles in any run — and wasn’t about to start. The race in Ontario was a tune-up for her first 26.2-mile run next month in Detroit. She thought she’d keep running on the course for training purposes and then drop out around the 20-mile mark.

But Fitzmaurice soon started counting the competitors in front of her and realized she was leading the pack of women. Since she had been on the marathon course the whole time, could she run the race even though she hadn’t entered?

The same race official consulted with the race director, who said he’d honor the result if Fitzmaurice ran.

The Ottawa Citizen describes what happened next:

So Fitzmaurice decided to continue on. She asked the official on the bike if he’d keep her company. As Fitzmaurice got near the finish line the feeling was “surreal.” People were high-fiving her and telling her she was the first woman and to keep going. “I had only ever run 20 miles, but I think at that point the adrenalin just pulled me through,” she said. “I just kept thinking you can do this, just get it done. The last couple miles were really tough.” When Fitzmaurice crossed the finish line in a time of 3:11:48 she was the first woman, 10th overall and had qualified for .”

“Maybe this was meant to be,” she told a reporter after the race.