Ms Paterson, the Lakes Leisure community programme and recreation co-ordinator, told the Queenstown Times she had entered the marathon lottery for the past three years, hoping to be given a spot in the 42.2km race, which last year attracted more than 47,000 runners, and was watched by about two million spectators in the city, with another 315 million television viewers worldwide.
Last Friday, her dream came true when she woke at 7.45am to discover an email informing her that she was "in".
"I'd had a couple of drinks the night before and thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me ... I just started screaming.
"It was actually like winning the lottery - but instead of getting lots of money, it's going to cost me a fortune.
"I have Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York as my ring tone.
"I haven't stopped smiling; I'm buzzing ... When I'm running I want to tell people 'I'm not just out for a run, I'm training for the greatest race in the world'."
Ms Paterson completed this year's Coast to Coast, the 2010 Peak to Peak and "two or three" half-marathons in Dunedin and Christchurch. Although she had always wanted to run a full marathon
"I've always said ... the first one will be New York".
While she has six months to prepare for the race - of which the first 10km would likely be "like a mob of sheep" - Ms Paterson has wasted no time starting to get race fit, having completed three RPM classes, a pump class and a core class, along with running 42km this week, with the aim of completing the November 4 race in under four hours.
She will be accompanied by her parents - who were also part of her support crew for the Coast to Coast - with her Arrowtown support crew planning a marathon party, tracking her progress by GPS over the course.
