If the intention of the New York truck attacker was to instill terror in the hearts and minds of ordinary people, he got his answer on Sunday when 50,000 runners took part in the city’s marathon, cheered on by more than two million undeterred supporters.
In perfect running conditions of grey sky and a mild chill, New York came out in force to celebrate the universal art of running. From the starting block under the Verrazano-Narrows bridge in Staten Island, through Brooklyn and the Bronx to Central Park where the race snaked to a finish, crowds clanged cowbells and called out encouragement to the participants from 125 countries.
“It’s been a bad week, they tried to mess with the best day of my year,” said Jeannie O’Toole, 46, a double Marathon runner who was a spectator this time on 4th Avenue in Brooklyn. “But they failed. Today says everything about New York – we’re out here to support everyone, complete strangers, all as one.”
City and state had pledged to double or even triple the security presence, mindful in the wake of the truck attack on Tuesday that claimed eight lives and the 2013 Boston marathon bombing that the event could make a tempting terrorist target. But in the end the policing was muted and low-key, with none of the promised rooftop snipers and K-9 teams visible in Brooklyn.
“We’re not giving in to the terrorists, we’re going on about our business,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said before the race began. “This is the worst nightmare for terrorists – people from all nations running together, everyone together in a common cause. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The elite contests were won by Shalane Flanagan, the first American woman to win the race in 40 years, in 2:26:53, and Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya in 2:10:53.
But the professional race was just a small part of it. As the line of participants thickened with the arrival of the rank-and-file runners, the cheering and cowbell clanging only grew louder. The placards came out too. None mentioned the truck attack overtly, but several carried a note of defiance.
“Run Fast and Take Chances,” one placard said.
“New York is with you,” said another.
“#Fuckyeah” was a third.
On top of the signs were the costumes. Eve Rickles-Young and Andrea Gaither, both 28, turned out in Tiger onesies to support their three friends in the race. They said that despite the events of this week they remained determined to yell a lot and make their friends laugh as they passed by.
“You just kind of got to go on, get on with it,” Gaither said.
Among the runners was Kathrine Switzer, now 70, who last participated in 1974 when she won the contest. She was also memorably the first woman to be allowed to compete in the Boston marathon, prompting a chauvinist race official to try to drag her off the course screaming: “Get the hell out of my race!”
Switzer told ABC7 it was great to be back after 42 years and urged people to become pioneers too.
“I encourage everyone to keep on going, keep talking to each other, keep working to make the world a better place,” she said.
