More than 50,000 people are nursing sore muscles this
morning. They’re the ones who ran 26.2 miles through New York’s five boroughs
during the 47th running of the New York Marathon yesterday, November
5, 2017.
The event began in 1970 when, of 127 entrants on a course
entirely in Central Park, 55 men finished and the sole woman dropped out. Entry
fee was $1 and the entire budget for the race was $1,000.
The now iconic race
has blossomed into a mammoth exercise in community spirit and a symbol of hope
and renewal. It was held less than two months after the 9/11 attacks and this
year following another tragic event that caused an increased police presence
throughout the race. The only time the race was cancelled was in 2012 because
of Hurricane Sandy. That year runners showed their support by running together
in Central Park.
Among those resting up today after their “long run” is my
24-year-old granddaughter, Abby, who finished her first marathon with a smile
on her face and surrounded by a gaggle of her cousins who had come to cheer her
on. She had never run more than 17 miles at a time before, but yesterday she
chalked up more than 26 miles, no problem.
I was there when she was born, when a goofed-up ultra sound
had predicted a boy. She and I did one of her very first runs—all of 20 minutes—around
a nearby lake. She has come a long way, baby, and who knows where all she may
go!
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