Two days after A Race Like No Other 2008, I took a run in Central Park. The trees were at peak foliage, rich in hues of gold and crimson, and the Marathon Blue line was still fresh on the road. A few Italians, wearing their marathon tour jackets, walked down Cat Hill as I passed the Boathouse and prepared to tackle the incline.
At the precise moment where I passed the Ryan Shay memorial, a wreath of red and white roses marking the spot where the United States Olympic hopeful had died at the marathon trials in 2007, my randomly set I-Pod starting playing Billy Joel’s “Only the Good Die Young.”
I had goose bumps. I ran harder.
The 39th New York City Marathon was a glorious event this past Sunday, with Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe defending as champion in a fiercely dominant performance for her third victory here and Marilson Gomes dos Santos storming to his second after his breakout 2006 title.
Their triumph Sunday was twinned with tragedy for the race, when Monday, the New York Road Runners announced that two of the 37,899 finishers had died. One finisher was a 58-year-old man, Carlos Jose Gomes, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Gomes dos Santos’ home town.
That’s the kind of inextricable connection the marathon has had since 490 B.C.E. It was then that the messenger Pheidippides ran from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce the Athenians’ undermanned victory over the Persians.
The minute after he delivered his message — “We have won!” — he dropped dead. The first modern Olympic Games in 1896 recreated his legendary run; it was a death that gave life to a sport.
In turn, this sport has given life to so many.
Pam Rickard, one of the featured runners in my book, ran the New York City marathon for the second straight year, more than two years and seven months sober. She ran more than 10 minutes faster (3:38:03) this time revisiting the scenes along the course as if she were running with an old friend.
http://www.roanoke.com/sports/etc/wb/182939
Harrie Bakst had a far more difficult time this year than he did last year when he was five months removed from finishing his radiation treatments for cancer. This time his right foot injuries flared up painfully after Mile 16. He slowed down and then got so chilled he had to seek medical attention.
Determined to finish, and having already sent his brother Rich ahead of him, Bakst ended up walking – and limping – his way to the finish line in 6:25:27. He was accompanied in those final eight miles by a spectator who jumped into the course to help him. His mother, Ellen.
Like last year, this year’s marathon produced stories of timeless significance, of raucous crowds and gutsy performances. Here are some of the numbers, as provided by the New York road Runners:
Of the 38,356 starters, 37,899 finished – 16,257 of them running their first marathon. Kara Goucher was one of them. She finished third in 2:25:23, making her the third fastest American woman, behind Deena Kastor and Joan Benoit Samuelson.
Only one year ago, Goucher was watching from the press truck as Radcliffe outdueled Gete Wami. As amazed as Goucher was with Radcliffe then, she made up her mind that day to run the race for herself the following year.
“I think,” Goucher said with a smile Monday, “I found my event.”
Tags: Kara Goucher, Marilson Gomes dos Santos, New York City Marathon, Paula Radcliffe, Ryan Shay
