The 44-year-old, who has titanium hips, earned the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon with bilateral hip replacements
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Credit: Courtesy of Carrie Bradshaw (2)
NEED TO KNOW
- Carrie Bradshaw, who goes by “Bionic Runner Babe” because of her titanium hips, earned the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon with bilateral hip replacements
- The Texas runner’s record-setting time at the Houston Marathon was 3 hours, 42 minutes and 31 seconds
- “I see four years of fighting to get a piece of my soul back and a doctor who believed in me before I believed in myself,” she told PEOPLE after her record was certified on March 9
Texas runner Carrie Bradshaw remembers staying up at night — while experiencing constant pain — and “desperately” searching for answers on Google to the question: “Can I run marathons after hip replacements?”
It turns out that you can, and the 44-year-old Houston native, who goes by “Bionic Runner Babe” online because of her titanium hips, is living proof.
After Bradshaw was diagnosed with congenital bilateral hip dysplasia in 2021 and told by many surgeons that she’d never run again, she defied the odds thanks to her own grit and one surgeon who believed in her.
Since having her hips replaced in 2022 and 2023, the then-10-time marathoner has run two more marathons — with her latest attempt at the Houston Marathon in January breaking the Guinness World Record for fastest marathon with bilateral hip replacements completed by a female.
Credit: Courtesy of Carrie Bradshaw
Two months after running the Houston Marathon in 3 hours, 42 minutes and 31 seconds, the mother of two received an email on March 9 informing her that she is an official GWR world record holder.
“When I walk past that framed Guinness World Record on the wall, I don’t really see a finish time or one defining moment. I see four years of fighting to get a piece of my soul back and a doctor who believed in me before I believed in myself,” Bradshaw exclusively told PEOPLE, praising Dr. Gregory Stocks of the Fondren Orthopedic Group at the Texas Orthopedic Hospital.
Credit: Carrie Bradshaw/Instagram
The record is the latest in a list of running accomplishments. Before her hip replacements, she ran more than 60 half marathons and 10 marathons, with her personal record (PR) time being 3 hours and 9 minutes.
“I am excited to see if I can chase down that old PR with my new hips on my side — pun intended,” Bradshaw quipped.
Her Houston time qualified her to run the 2027 Boston Marathon, which she also ran in 2025, “just two years after becoming bionic.”
“Boston was my victory lap,” Bradshaw said. “Now that I’ve completed two marathons with my new hips and am figuring out my limits, I plan on gradually increasing my mileage and intensity as I train for Boston 2027.”
Credit: Courtesy of Carrie Bradshaw
“Getting to reclaim this part of myself has been an incredible gift and a second chance to do what I love,” she continued. “Dr. Stocks gave me the key to unlock this second chapter of my running story. I think the second chapter is going to be better than the first, too.”
Bradshaw described Dr. Stocks to PEOPLE as “my miracle surgeon.”
“He is the only doctor who believed I would run again and encouraged me to chase my dreams. I remember him saying to me after my second surgery, ‘Carrie, we’ve got to get you back to running,’ ” she recalled. “He saw that I was in a dark place and that getting me back to doing what I love would help me find myself again. He changed my life.”
Credit: Courtesy of Carrie Bradshaw
Dr. Stocks and Johnson & Johnson/DePuy Synthes orthopedics team members were among the people — along with her family and friends — who cheered on Bradshaw in person during the Houston Marathon.
“Someone in the hip replacement community, now a dear friend, has repeatedly told me I’m the community’s ‘messenger of strength and hope,’ so I thought about that when the miles started to get hard in the race, especially at miles 20 and 21,” she said.
Credit: Courtesy of Carrie Bradshaw
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Another person who got Bradshaw into record-setting running shape was her coach, Olympic marathon medalist and 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi. Now, Bradshaw will be running the New York City Marathon in November as part of her coach’s foundation, Team Meb.
“Boston 2025 was my big comeback race and victory lap after my hip replacements, and Meb was such a huge part of all of it,” Bradshaw said. “Now, we get to reunite in N.Y.C. this fall for chapter 2.”
