8 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 7, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Over 52,000 runners brave cool temps at NYC Marathon
BY TODD MAISEL
It seemed a bit cold for spectators this
morning, but for the more than 52,000
runners that took part in the TCS New
York City Marathon, the brisk temperature
The lead men’s runners cross the Verrazano Bridge.
Jennie Wang and Vicki Fung of Long Island City were determined to fi nish.
Three years after NYPD Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo died
in the line of duty, his wife Lisa runs in the marathon
in his honor. She is accompanied by Chief
of Department Terrence Monahan.
was perfect for their arduous trek
across the fi ve boroughs.
Th e runners come from 125 countries
and all 50 states who started in Staten
Island in 44-degree temperatures for the
start of race which is now in its 49th year.
A pair of Kenyans won the big race –
the winning woman, Joyciline Jepkosgei,
26, ran her fi rst-ever New York City
Marathon with a fi nishing time of 2:22:38
and won $100,000 for the eff ort. Geoff rey
Kamworor, also 26, won the men’s division
for a second time, clocking in a
2:08:13.
Kamworor’s path to victory was cleared
when defending champ Lelisa Desisa
dropped out of this year’s race — quitting
aft er just seven miles. It was not
immediately known why he dropped out.
Desisa had just competed in the tough
World Athletics Championship Marathon
in sweltering Qatar 29 days earlier.
Th ere were many stories at this year’s
marathon, stories of courage and rising
from the ashes of pain. Most striking was
the run by Lisa Tuozzolo who three years
earlier lost her husband, NYPD Sgt. Paul
Tuozzolo, who died in the line of duty –
shot in the chest by a man with a gun. Lisa
ran accompanied by Chief of Department
Terrence Monahan and several other offi -
cers. She said she ran the race in her husband’s
honor.
“I’m doing this for Paul. I know he’s
looking down and one side of his mouth
he’s saying am I nuts am I out of my mind,
and on the other side he’s saying how
proud he is of me for proving that nothing’s
gonna knock me down,” Lisa told
Eyewitness News this week.
Marathoners raced through the fi ve
boroughs, exiting off into Bay Ridge,
Brooklyn, and getting a warm welcome
from residents.
Jeannie Paolillo, a MTA bus driver,
cheered on the marathoners as they
entered Brooklyn from Staten Island.
“Usually, I’m working — I’m a city bus
operator and I wanted to show for this, it’s
like an event. Th en we go home and have a
nice breakfast, the guys set up up tents —
it’s a whole party,” Paolillo said.
Connie Pitsouis stood at the 92nd Street
exit from the Verrazano Bridge with a
big poster that read “Brooklyn, home to
everyone from everywhere.”
“We just want to welcome the runners –
this is the fi rst stop into Brooklyn and we
want them to konw this is the best borough
in the city,” Pitsouis said.
Mike Basile of Bay Ridge brought out
his whole family to watch the race.
“We live right over here and it is exciting
for the kids, they like the runners, the
wheelchairs, handicaps it’s a nice little
day,” he said as he stood with his children
Michael Jr. and Julianne.
In Greenpoint, the runners made the
turn onto McGuiness Boulevard and onto
the uphill run of the Pulaski Bridge, the
halfway point in the marathon. Just before
the bridge, a man dressed as President
Donald Trump, greeted the runners with
the poster, “Hitting a Wall? I can help
with that.”
Jennie Wang and Vicki Fung of Long
Island City made it up onto the Pulaski
Bridge – overlooking the Manhattan skyline
– and crossed from Brooklyn to
Queens. Both were exhausted, but determined.
“Yes, we are coming close to home –
yes, it’s temping to just go home and give
it up,” Wang said, “but we will keep going.”
In Long Island City, crowds were also
wall to wall, residents holding posters.
In one case, a female resident held a picture
of one of the runners they called,
“Anderson Cooper.” Tiff any Th ornton of
Long Island City stood with friend Jared
Baltowsky of Chicago and waited for
their friend, a look-a-like to Cooper, Joel
Slagger, Chicago.
“Th is is a great spot and we are greeting
him here,” she said as she waved her
picture of him as he arrived for a brief
hug. “Th is is a great spot and he did it all
today.”
Th is story fi rst appeared in amNewYork,
one of our sister publications.
Photos by Todd Maisel
About 52,000 runners took part in this year’s TSC New York City Marathon in the fi ve boroughs,
including here, where runners exit into Brooklyn from the Verrazano Bridge.
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