“I need them to come out to support me and raise a flag so that I can regain energy.” This is Beverly Ramos, a Puerto Rican Olympic competitor who participated in the 50th New York City Marathon. He ran the city marathon in 2015 but this time managed to break his previous record, crossing all five boroughs in a record time of 2:39 minutes.
An experience that, according to Ramos, tests your mental potential: “There are always quiet, difficult periods, of a lot of mental battle, but once you make that connection again with the fans.”
RELATED STORIES:
More than 33,000 participants made their journey starting in Staten Island crossing the Verrazzano Bridge to Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx; a total of 26.2 miles to reach Central Park. A route that marathoners say is not possible without the support of the people.
This is confirmed by Diego Arévalo, a runner from Guatemala who has been participating in the race for 5 years: “Fifth Avenue is one of the greatest challenges I have run as a runner, but thank God it came out.”
And after crossing the final goal, the marathoners go on to collect their medal of triumph.
For Osvaldo Alfar it is the seventh marathon that he runs and he says that after what he experienced during the pandemic, being able to obtain this medal is a great achievement: “After the pandemic everything is great. It cost us two projects, it cost us London last year, I was also coming to New York. But today this has no comparison. We are fine, we are physically very strong. This also goes for all those people who are no longer here, in particular my teacher and friend. “
Last year this event was held virtually and for Marcos Valladares, a Honduran runner who lives in Staten Island, being able to be present in this 2021 marathon is a dream come true: “With pride representing. This is my first marathon here, thank God. This was a dream and God wanted it to come true today. “
Once the race is over, marathoners want to celebrate with their loved ones and fill up on carbs in the process. This was confirmed by Francisco Perdomo, a Venezuelan runner: “Whatever, I’m very hungry, really. I can eat hamburgers, pizza … whatever.”
–
