Scarsdale Runners Go the Distance in the 2016 NYC Marathon

There were many current and former Scarsdale residents among the 50,000 runners from 120 countries who ran the NYC Marathon on Sunday November 6. It was a beautiful warm day, and these runners were exhilarated by the experience and shared their stories with us.

Megan Simon, a Greenacres mother of two also ran her first marathon on Sunday. She trained using the TCS NYRR Official Virtual Marathon Trainer, a 20-week virtual program that was customized by NYRR for each runner and emailed her a workout plan for each day. It also provided helpful tips about the course, race day prep and nutrition. Megan was surprised by how much fun she had. She said, "No matter how much pain I was in I just wanted to keep going and I was smiling the whole way. I was also really touched at how all five boroughs come together to be so supportive. From Brooklyn to the Bronx the people were so amazing!! I was very proud yesterday to be a New Yorker running this race!" She continued, "I was inspired by all the amazing strangers that were cheering me on and the fact that my friends and family were at mile 19 and mile 22. The bands and music and enthusiasm were truly like nothing I have ever felt before."

Scarsdale kids turned out at the train station to cheer their folks on. Pictured here, they were holding signs for Megan Simon and Gregg Monterosso.

Discussing his experience, Gregg Monterosso said, "This was my 4th NYC marathon and I am happy to say that I finished all four of them. I trained using an online training application for 16 weeks starting back in the first week of July. My training consisted of running 4-5 days per week and a pyramid of increasing mileage and then tapering down during the final two weeks prior to the race.

New York is always an amazing marathon experience...the people that line the streets make it an amazing day! This year I ran for Fred's Team, which is a fundraising team for Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital and I raised over $3,300 dollars.

My sister in law passed away in June 2015 from breast cancer, leaving behind my brother(her husband) and two young children, sso this race was special to me this year. That is what kept me going this year despite a knee injury that hampered me during my training and also from mile 7 on to the finish on Sunday. I will absolutely do it again as I want to beat my personal best time of 4 hours 24 minutes.

Matt Hershey (SHS '09) and Greg Seiden (SHS '11) have been friends since they learned to walk but had no idea that they both were running their first marathon. They met toward the end of the course and were thrilled to finish together. Greg Seiden age 23 said he felt really good until the 20-mile mark on the Willis Avenue Bridge and pressed on to the end, even walking at times, due to the cramping in his legs.

Matt Hershey said he trained by doing short to medium distance runs before work during the week and long runs on the weekends. He was inspired to stay the course by friends and family along the way and a great playlist on his phone. He was surprised by how sore he was the day after the race but is already making plans to do it again.

Scarsdale High School friends Hannah Fastov and Julie Salzman, both ran their first marathons with the Athletes to End Alzheimer's Team. Hannah took a few practice runs with the team, but mostly trained on her own, increasing the length of her weekend runs and ultimately doing a 22-mile final training run.

She was surprised by how friendly all the runners were at the starting line which "relieved some of her nerves," and she make several friends along the way. Fastov said, "The crowds along the route were awesome, each unique and true to the ethnicity of their neighborhood. The music was a treat and a motivation to keep moving."

Julie Salzman says she's been hobbling on sore legs since Sunday and almost asked a man to give up his subway seat for her a few days after the race. Though she was athletic when she was growing up she only started running three years ago and also trained with the CaringKids Athletes to End Alzheimers team. She said she had no idea how difficult a marathon could be and her legs ached early in the race with the pain setting in at mile 17. She says she kept telling herself, "One more mile until I will see my family, a half a mile until my friends. I had to finish because I heard there would be incredible yet embarrassing, loving signs waiting for me!" She decided not to bring headphones and listened to the encouraging strangers along the way who fed her snacks to keep her going.

She ran for herself, her Grandpa Les and for all of the strong people on the team who have been affected by family members with Alzheimer's. Though she loved the experience, for now, she's going back to yoga.

We also received marathon photos from Andy Mayer and sisters Mei and Sue Zhou. Did you run? Send your photos and experiences to Scarsdsale10583 at scarsdalecomments@gmail.com and we'll include them on the site.

WeRun Club Sends Seven to the Marathon:

The WeRun club sent seven runners, two event volunteers and one cheering team to join the 51k runners and 2 million spectators from around the world. All their runners finished the daunting 26.2 miles run.

Meiliang Wu 3:08:52
Lei Zhang, 3:35:25
Chen Zou, 3:40:41
Zhanjie Li, 3:41:36
Xiaohui Wang, 4:23:10
Aihui Li, 3:55:36

This was Lei's first marathon, he said he trained by following a plan from "Advanced Marathoning". "The second half is a lot harder than expected even with long training runs. The crowds, the friend, the family support and determination are main inspirations," recalled Lei, "the crowd is awesome! Too bad I missed a few friends when they yelled at me but it's a wonderful experience." "I would continue to run the marathon" added him.

Same feeling echoed by Zhanjie, who also ran it first time. "I run routinely 3-4 times for total around 25 miles every week. For marathon, extra long runs on weekends are necessary to go long and experience the ultra distance, and at the same time build the necessary cardinal and muscle strengths." "I was surprised by the enthusiasm I saw from other runners as well as the cheers along the way." Zhanjie has been running for several years, "marathon is always the one task on my schedule. This one is definitely a long overdue one. I want to give it my best all the way to finish line." He continued "the crowds along the way are great. The supports and cheers they gave are tremendous." As to the question - do you think you'll do it again? With no hesitation "Yes, it's a tough dashing to the finish line but fun after your cross it."

For seasoned runner Chen, this was her third time marathon race. "I do not have much time to train. I normally train at the early morning or 9:30pm when my kids are in bed, and Sunday morning when they are in Chinese school." She said, "I am surprised by the "bonding" experience for my body and spirit. During the training and after the marathon race, I feel I am stronger, I can take more challenge in all aspects." "I am inspired to have a better me, and to show my kids the strength of persistence." She agreed that the cheering crowds are very very enthusiastic and encouraging, "the crowds give high fives, cheer, or provide food and drinks." "Yeah, I will do it again. I will keep it going!"

One member from the WeRun cheering team, Tony, said "as a spectator, I've been to the events several times, cheering for family members, friends, colleagues and all other runners and always got inspired by participators and their lengthy training stories. This year, that feeling became ever stronger. Since joining the WeChat running club, founded by Westchester local Chinese residents earlier this year, I resumed my regular training, which have been stopped since college. For the first time, I feel I can be one of them, instead of just applauding for them. I believe that day won't be far away."

It has been a fun and fruitful year for the WeRun club. Their members practice every Saturday morning along the beautiful Bronx river trail. They exchange the training experience and race information, and as always welcome all seasoned and novice distance runners. For more information, email Lisa Tan at lisaytan@yahoo.com.