Brooklyn held it's first-ever Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon on Saturday, and among the participants was a runner who overcame major hurdles to make it to the finish line.

Beth Deloria had been an athlete all of her life, but a series of birth defects crushed her nerve roots in her legs. Known as foot drop, she now has paralysis in her left foot, ankle and shin. The condition can occur in people with multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries and spinal injuries.

It caused Deloria's optimism to wane. "Slowly it ebbs away at your identity and one day I just woke up and realized I had become depressed," she says. "It felt like I was no longer myself."

Deloria did her research and she found a brace that helped her get back to running. With full paralysis of her left ankle, she ran a full marathon and qualified for the Boston Marathon.

When she makes it to the starting line of each race, she gives herself a pep talk: "Don't ever give up keep searching for that, even if you have to find a different way to do it. You might have a new normal but finding that, reclaiming your passion really does catapult you into joy and compassion again that you might have thought not possible to do."

Deloria accomplished the half-marathon on Saturday in just under two hours.