The marathon for the LI gal, or guy, next door

It lacks the spectacle of the New York City Marathon, the tradition of Boston, the blazing-fast courses of London or Chicago.

Yet, 38 years after it began as the Earth Day Marathon -- held on a frigid March day in 1973, at the old Roosevelt Raceway -- the event currently known as the RXR/TIAA-CREF Long Island Marathon: Festival of Races attracts a robust 6,000 participants.

Why? "Because it's the race that the guy next door does," says Jose L. Lopez, who, in his former position as Nassau County commissioner of parks, was in charge of the event for several years. "It's the one race every runner on Long Island does at some point."

Indeed, for locals looking to get or stay in shape, lose weight or raise money for a cause, this is the race. "We've got an incredibly strong running community here on Long Island, and this is the event where everybody comes together," says Mike Polansky, president of the Greater Long Island Running Club.

The shorter 5k, one-mile and kid's fun-run races that are part of the L.I. Marathon weekend are scheduled for today. While people of all ages will participate in tomorrow's competitions -- the 26.2-mile full marathon, the 13.1-mile half and the 6.2-mile/10k race -- many 50-and-over veterans will be in the field. These folks were young when they first ran here, and now they're members of the vibrant Act 2 generation. Many began as marathoners, but in a concession to aging joints, they now run the half, which was started in 1984 and is now the most popular of the three distances, or the 10k, added a few years ago. But regardless of age or distance, they still come back to run Long Island's hometown race. We talked with five of them. 

JOE VIVERITO, 77, MANHASSET

Viverito, who is president of a new products development agency, competed in the first L.I. Marathon and over the years toed the starting line another 24 times (with an outstanding personal best time of 2:42:26). This year, he's back to do the full marathon for the first time in many years. A month shy of turning 78, he will likely be one of the oldest competitors in the field.

Viverito is most impressed by the explosion of technology in a sport that once required nothing more than shorts, T-shirt and sneakers. "I see all these runners wearing headphones and iPods, and they're calling their spouses just before the start on their cellphones," he said. "It's amazing!"

This is his favorite marathon because "You can sleep in your own bed the night before the race, and drive over to the start in 15 minutes. You can't do that in the big city marathons." 

JOE CORDERO, 73, ISLIP TERRACE

This retired New York City schoolteacher ran his first L.I. Marathon in 1978. He finished third overall in 1980 and switched to the half in 1985. He has run the 13.1-miler about 20 times, most recently in 2008, when he won his age group with a time of 1 hour, 41 minutes. He will be running the 10k in this year's race.

"The atmosphere [in the 1970s, early '80s] was definitely more serious, more competitive," he says. Now, "More people are just out there having fun. Those who want to jog or walk it can do that. Those who want to race can do that. And at the end of the day, you have a picnic in the park." 

SUE FITZPATRICK, 50, DIX HILLS

In 1986, when she ran her first of 16 L.I. half-marathons, women were only a small percentage of the field. Things change, and nationally, now, more than 50 percent of half-marathon finishers are women. "A lot can happen in the half marathon," says the mother of three. "You can have a really good couple miles, then a really bad couple of miles, and then recover and still have a good finish. I like that."

She also has enjoyed the different routes for the marathon. "The course has changed here many times over the years, and I've gone through all of them," she says. "I have memories of running down to Jones Beach, the years we ran up and down the Wantagh Parkway, the year we ran around Museum Row, and now the current course (through Uniondale, Westbury and East Meadow), which I like best."

ALEX CUOZZO, 53, BELLMORE

An investigator with the Nassau County Sheriff's Department, Cuozzo was 19 when he ran his first Long Island Marathon in 1977. Nine years later, he won the race. He now coaches an elite racing team, the Bellmore Striders, from whose ranks have come many of the race's winners in recent years. Cuozzo now runs the half and estimates he's run all or part of the course 30 times.

"It gives good local runners a place to shine," Cuozzo says. "The year I won the race, I was on the back page [of Newsday] with Darryl Strawberry and the winner of the Kentucky Derby. When else would I have gotten that kind of opportunity?" 

GREG KARL 63, MASSAPEQUA PARK

A retired Verizon employee, Karl remembers his first L.I. Marathon in 1980 -- and not very fondly. "I was underprepared and over confident," he says. "I had a horrible race. . . . I finished in about five hours." Lesson learned, he returned to run the marathon better trained for the next five years, improving his time to 3 hours, 20 minutes. But by the late 1980s, he says, "Training for marathons became more of a chore than a pleasure. So I decided to be twice as smart and run half the distance." Since then, he's done the half marathon most years. In 2009, he ran 1:38:56 to finish first in the 60-64 age group.

This year, he's opted for the shorter 10k, so he'll still be running in at least part of the marathon. "As a runner on Long Island, you kind of feel guilty if you don't." 

Beyond carbo-loading 

Getting ready for the marathon is no walk in the park. Here's how these veteran runners prepare for the race.

JOE CORDERO: "Three hard runs from the bottom of the hill (by the parking lot) in Sunken Meadow Park, to the top, finishing at the toll booths. That is less than a mile uphill, but it taxes the thighs and the will to finish each interval faster than the last one."

ALEX CUOZZO: "On the Tuesday before the L.I. Marathon, I like to do the following: three-mile warm-up, 8 x 500 meters at 5k race pace, 300-meter] jog for rest, one-mile cooldown."

SUE FITZPATRICK: "Run three miles on Friday and try to stay off of my feet on Saturday as much as possible."

GREG KARL: Takes a "55-minute cross-country trail run in the hills of Bethpage State Park. Once a week is plenty."

JOE VIVERITO: "Repeats on Beacon Hill in Port Washington: half mile up, half mile down, and I do it anywhere from seven to ten times. Ugh!"