New York City Marathon

The 40th edition of the New York City Marathon took place on Sunday November 1 with almost 44,000 participants. With the increased crowd, the race went off in three waves over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge; elite women, then elite men and finally everyone else. For the first time since Alberto Salazar crossed the line in 1982, an American man won with Meb Keflezighi finishing in 2:09:15. Meb was joined by six other American men in the top ten. Derartu Tulu was the women?s winner, breaking Paula Radcliffe?s four year New York winning streak and finishing in 2:28:52.
Famous faces running in support of charities were Edward Norton and Alanis Morrisette running for Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust and finishing in 3:48:01 and 4:28:45 respectively. Anthony Edwards running to support Shoes4Africa completed his race in 4:08:20. Dan Jansen and Pat Lafontaine raced for ING?s Run for Something Better team, which raises money for youth fitness and provides grants and funds to school-based running programs; finished in 3:41:43 and 4:27:08. Matthew Reeve, son of Christopher and Dana Reeve ran a 4:23:26 in support of spinal cord injury research.
While there were more than 6,800 athletes running for various charities and an unknown number of challenged runners, Zoe Koplowitz wins the ?maximizing your race dollar? award. Koplowitz finished her 42k race in 28 hours and 45 minutes on crutches. The 61 year old runner who deals with diabetes and multiple sclerosis has completed 17 marathons and holds the world record for the longest marathon in women?s running history with a finish time of 33 hours and nine minutes. Zoe is the author of The Winning Spirit: Life Lessons Learned in Last Place and as a motivational speaker talks about the importance of self-acceptance, the power of a dream, courage in the face of adversity and excelling despite perceived limitations.
One would think with so many registrants it would be easy to get into the NYC Marathon, but it?s not. As an international runner you can enter the Lottery. If you are denied for three years in a row you will be guaranteed an entry for the following year. You can go through an international travel partner on a tour; in the Quinte area contact Elaine Tomiszer at Marlin Travel in Cobourg (1‐905‐377‐0997) or the Running Room. If you want guaranteed entry run a fast half on a certified course. Times are based on age and sex; for example men and women aged 40-49 need to run 1:30:00 to 1:44:00 respectively and men and women aged 50-59 need to run 1:40:00 to 1:50:00 respectively.
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This past weekend at the New York City Marathon Boyd Kalnay ran 3:00:05, Eric Lindenberg finished in 3:31:06 and Bill Huffman covered the course in 6:27:32. At the Road 2 Hope Marathon in Hamilton local finishers were Damon Allen (3:19:59), Stephanie Warren (3:46:24) and Tim Johnson (3:26:55). Julianne Schwartz raced the Angus Glen Half marathon in 2:36:40 and Debbie Sicoli ran a 26:46 in the Deaf Culture Centre 5k.