THE RUN AND ONLY
NYC Marathon is a go as race adjusts to coronavirus reality
The New York City Marathon is off and running, paced by people from all over the world who will leg out their own course as part of this year’s virtual race.
Getting through this global pandemic is not a sprint — and nobody knows that better than marathon runners whose annual competition, like many other events in New York, was canceled because of coronavirus.
But rather than being stopped in their tracks, organizers at the New York Road Runners Club came up with the idea for a virtual marathon where runners can hit the road from wherever they are, track their journey via GPS and upload their results to marathon judges.
The courses won’t be official because they don’t go through the five boroughs — but try telling that to road weary runners who have trained just as hard for the virtual event as they have for the real thing.
“Why am I doing it? It’s what I do every fall,” said Lauren Robertson, an occupational therapist, who has run New York City’s marathon almost every year since 1993.
Robertson, 66, usually runs with her Pizza Runners Group buddies who used to train together and meet for pizza once a week. The lockdown has kept them from getting together since early March, but they plan to change all that after they run their individual marathons and meet up at the finish line in Central Park.
“We usually run together twice a week,” said Robertson, a Washington Heights resident, who will run her course along the Hudson River. “The first time we will see each other in person is when we finish the marathon. We all kind of run at different paces, which means we’re all going to have different start times.”
Starting Saturday, participants in the virtual event will be able to run their marathons up until Nov. 1, the original date of the now-canceled event.
“Virtual racing has transformed the running experience by providing an amazing platform to stay connected,” said Christine Burke, New York Road Runner’s senior vice president. “We are excited to see runners embrace the virtual marathon and continue their marathon journey.”
Former marathon champ Meb Keflezighi will be running for charity from his home in Tampa, Florida, splitting the 26.2 miles with his buddy, former tennis pro James Blake.
Keflezighi, 45, the only runner to win the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon, and an Olympic medal, said he will miss the crowds, but not the city’s hills.
“New York has an amazing crowd,” Keflezighi said. “It’s electrifying. In a way, that will be different. The masses won’t be there, people coming to watch the race to support you. Now I just run for health and mental strength. With the pandemic and social strife, sometimes you need a stress reliever.”
Robertson has her own motivation. In April, she was struck with coronavirus, and despite being in the best of health, the disease took its toll.
“I was flat on my back for three weeks,” Robertson said. “My COVID complication was not respiratory. It was cardiac. I got a clean bill of health. I did not have any permanent heart damage. But it gave me the utmost respect for how serious this disease is. I’m a really fit person and this knocked me out.”