Hauppauge teachers Tara Dungate and Veronica Morabito-Weeks to be among NYC Marathon runners

Two fifth-grade co-teachers from Hauppauge are ready, set and going … to be among Sunday’s 50,000 runners dashing exactly 26.2 miles Sunday from Staten Island, up through Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and then ultimately into Central Park for the New York City Marathon finish line.

On ordinary days, Tara Dungate, age 36, of Bayport, and Veronica Morabito-Weeks, 62, of Brightwaters, go the distance together in a classroom of 21 students at Bretton Woods Elementary School.

And for months, the two have been training for the marathon, one of the world’s premier runs.

“Between the running and the teaching,” Morabito-Weeks joked, “I see her more than my husband.”

The two are among about 10,000 Long Islanders registered among the 50,000 expected finishers, according to Carole Harsch, a spokeswoman for New York Road Runners, the marathon organizer.

The partnership between Dungate, a special ed teacher, and Morabito-Weeks, a general ed teacher, began seven years ago when their principal teamed the two up. Although the two have trained separately for the marathon, they trade running war stories, tips and tricks every day.

Sometimes, they run together — late last month, for instance, both did the Suffolk Half Marathon.

Always, they wish each other well at the start — “and give big sweaty hugs when we finish,” Morabito-Weeks said.

Sunday’s running of the city marathon comes near the10th anniversary of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. After the storm that year, the race was canceled for the first time since it began in 1970.

Despite the support of then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who wanted the marathon to go on as a show of the city’s resilience, there was a public outcry that it would be unseemly to hold a foot race through a city in which so many were still suffering, and that municipal services ought to be focused on helping the victims, not a marathon.

Around that time on Long Island, Morabito-Weeks’ home had also been devastated. As if proving necessity is the mother of invention, she found a new hobby.

“I didn’t start running until Hurricane Sandy destroyed half my house and all of my cars. I had to walk everywhere, and it took too long, so I started running from one stop sign to another on and off,” she texted. “My husband calls me Forrest Gump because I never stopped, lol.”

Her home rebuilt, she’ll be running that marathon.

“It gives me a sense of freedom and makes me feel fearless,” she said. “I do my best thinking when I run.”

For Dungate, running too is exhilarating.

“I love that running is always there for me. It is great for my physical and mental health,” she said.

There are four days until race day.

Dungate’s goal is under 4 hours; Morabito-Weeks’ is around 4 hours, 15 minutes or close to that.

“The training is done! Now it’s all about a few easy runs, rest, hydration and calming the nerves,” said Dungate, who began training in June and ran the Berlin Marathon in September.

Morabito-Weeks, who ran the Hamptons Marathon about six weeks ago, said now there’s some serious carb loading going on.

“Eating lots of bagels!”

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.