Fearnley victorious in mad dash for wheelchair title
Photo credit: AP Photo | Australia's Kurt Fearnley and Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland pose after coming in first in their wheelchair divisions.
Disabled runners taking on New York City Marathon
NYC Marathon 2009
Running the NYC Marathon 2009, in costume
He was in a hurry, Kurt Fearnley explained. The 28-year-old Australian had arranged to attend his first NFL game at the Meadowlands on Sunday afternoon, but that wasn't what demanded all of his strength and urgency in the final yards of the New York City Marathon's wheelchair division, started at 8:20 a.m.
Fearnley, the three-time defending champion, found himself in a mad dash, wheel-to-wheel with 48-year-old Krige Schabort, a South African-born resident of Cedartown, Ga., as both barreled toward the finish line. They had chatted during the race and traded a friendly fist bump at one point. "We looked after each other," Fearnley said. "We nursed each other through."
But at the end, Fearnley "saw his wheel there and just kept screaming at myself not to let him pass me."
Fearnley hung on by inches - both were timed in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 58 seconds. And Fearnley was off to watch the Jets play. Switzerland's Edith Hunkeler had an easier time in winning her fifth New York title in the women's wheelchair event, in 1:58:15.
Samuelson breaks 3 hours
Joan Benoit Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic champion celebrating the 25th anniversary of that race, the 30th anniversary of her first marathon attempt and the 40th running of the New York race, finished in 2:49:09 - as a 52-year-old. And she also almost relived a 1988 incident here in which a volunteer ran her over during the race.
"I won't say little old ladies," she said, "because I now fit into that demographic. But two ladies were crossing the crosswalk and I almost didn't see them."
Muhrcke honors Huntington
Gary Muhrcke of Huntington, winner of the first New York Marathon in 1972 and now 69 years old, finished in 3:46:25.
Celebrity sightings
In the celebrity division, actor Edward Norton ran 3:48:01.
"Phenomenal," he said. "The visuals. Different sections of the race give you different tableaus."
Former Olympic speedskating champion Dan Jansen ran 3:41:43, former Islander Pat LaFontaine finished in 4:27:08 and George Hirsch, the 75-year-old chairman of the New York Road Runners Club board, clocked a 4:06:14.
"I've run more than 30 marathons," Hirsch said. "This one was the hardest by far. I'm glad to be a retired marathoner."
