The fourth annual Brooklyn marathon kicked off Sunday morning in Prospect Park. NY1′s Tara Lynn Wagner filed this report.
“Runners take your marks!” the announcer said, and with that, a crowd of 500 athletes took off around the lower loop of Prospect Park. They’d complete that loop a total of three times plus six circles around the entire park.
For some, it was their first marathon. For others, just another 26.2 miles under their belt.
“My goal today is to get past the finish line and get it done,” said one runner.
“I run one a year. I started running when I was 40. I’m now 71,” another runner said.
It’s the 33rd marathon for Jenny Wilkes and 15th for her fiancée, Greg Massanelli. The couple, from Arkansas, met at a race three years ago and will be running down the aisle to get married on Wednesday.
“So we decided to wear wedding outfits for the race,” Wilkes said.
Compared to that other, more famous New York marathon, this one’s a little more laid back—both among the runners and those cheering them on, like this group that brought an air mattress.
“We want to cheer in comfort and we thought we could provide a little respite for the runners. After they climb the hill, they can come take a little roll in the hay!” one spectator said.
That hill is a long steady incline that runners have to tackle six times. It’s no wonder that 51-year-old Lawrence Warriner of Toronto could barely stand as he crossed the finish line, his first time winning a marathon.
“It feels good, but it was tiring. It was a tough race,” Warriner said.
The first female to finish, Kelly Gillen, is a familiar face at this event.
“I won it in 2011 and I kept wanting to come back. And I came back and had such a great race,” Gillen said.
This could be the final year runners complete this race in this park. Organizers hope to bring the Brooklyn Marathon out onto the streets of the borough next November.
“I think we’ve got a great plan that can do an incredible amount of good for Brooklyn and New York City at large,” says Steve Lastoe.
“It would be a boon to the local economy, to local store owners, merchants, to neighborhoods. It will put Brooklyn even more on the map, more publicity, more buzz,” says Carlo Scissura of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
The city would have to sign off on that, but organizers hope one day this will be the second largest race in the world.
http://ift.tt/1u03hL2
via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1
No comments:
Post a Comment