Denisova first ran a marathon in 1993, when she finished eighth at the Russian Open Marathon Championship in
Kaliningrad, running a 2:42:47. At the 1996 Russian Open Marathon Championship in
Moscow, she became a bronze medalist (2:46:18), losing to
Irina Timofeyeva and
Lyubov Morgunova. The same year, she ran the
Dalian International Marathon (finishing in 2:36:09) and took part in the
European Cross Country Championships in
Charleroi. In 2001, she traveled to the United States to race in
Grandma's Marathon, a raced named after the Grandma's Restaurant. She started in
Two Harbors with thousands of other runners and ran along the shore of
Lake Superior to
Duluth, Minnesota, leading all the women and winning in 2:35:13. Her win set in motion a Russian woman's dominance of the race for the next four years as
Zinaida Semenova and
Firiya Sultanova rolled to wins. She also won the Long Beach Marathon, took 11th in the
Twin Cities Marathon and finished fourth in the
Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon that year. In 2002, she won the
Los Angeles Marathon (in 2:28:49) and placed second at the
New York Marathon coming in one minute behind
Joyce Chepchumba, crossing the tape with a time of 2:26:17. In 2003, she faced the best runners in the world and took the
Newton Hills as she stormed to a second-place finish at the
Boston Marathon in 2:26:51. At the
2004 New York City Marathon, she placed third, setting her own personal best of 2:25:18. She was considered as a candidate for participation in the Summer Olympics at Athens, but in the end, the Russian coaching staff chose other runners. In 2005, she again won the Los Angeles Marathon (2:26:11). At the 2006
Honolulu Marathon, Denisova ran 2:27:19, a race record. Denisova tested positive for an elevated
testosterone-to-
epitestosterone ratio 20 March 2007. On 15 May 2007 it was announced that she was banned for two years. She has since become a mother and returned to running. In 2012, 2013 and 2015 she won the
Detroit Marathon. In 2017 and 2018, she won the Albany Marathon. In 2018, she won the
Miami Marathon. ==Personal life==