PPTC MARATHON CELEBRITIES

It is almost time for the cannon in the harbor to announce the start of the NYC marathon. Actually, there will be a number of starts and each one will have its own cannon burst.

PPTC has much of which to be proud. Danielle Hansen is representing the entire borough of Brooklyn in the 5-boro race-within-a-race. Keep your eye out for her and cheer, cheer, cheer!!! We have three runners whose times have qualified them for the local elite start: Helen Dole, Frank DeLeo and Maggie Deschamps. Another celebrity is one of PPTC icons, Jack Stetch, who has run more than 30 NYC marathons and will be running again on November 2nd.

There are 42 runners registered as PPTC runners in the marathon. Some will be cancelling due to injuries before the big day. However, PPTC will be well represented on the course, both running and cheering. Here's to all our marathoners, the pride of PPTC.

The Last 10 Miles

LAST 10 MILES
This was a scene from the first PPTC aid stop just before the Willis Avenue Bridge connecting Manhattan to the Bronx. We had about 20 runners in our group. The day was crystal clear and crisp - a great day to run. There were two PPTC cars so that one could scoot to the finish at Tavern on the Green after helping to set up at the second stop, Engineers Gate. Juan Rivera again rode "shotgun" on his bike and Richard Weaver, Diana Ortiz and Julio Zavala made sure that our runners had fuel to finish. At the finish line, there was hot chocolate and bagels (bought in Brooklyn as a touch of home).

There were lots of runners out on this Saturday, from a number of different groups. One group even had numbers! ????

This "last 10M run" is in its 16th year, as near as I can figure. It started as an informal group of us from one of Bob Glover's classes in 1993. We were the only group doing it and we kept getting questions from bystanders - "Is this the marathon?." The next year a runner who had planned on running the last 10 was injured but intended to run the marathon eight days later. She had promised her doctor she would not do anything before that, so she brought her car into Manhattan and the rolling aid station was born. Word of mouth brought PPTC members to 59th Street and 1st Avenue soon afterwards. Not surprising, given the strong PPTC marathon tradition, and the PPTC Last 10 Miles was born.