William White of Florence was the top north Alabama finisher in the TCS New York City Marathon held Nov. 5.
White, 25, finished the race in 3:08:54, a fine pace of 7:13 per mile. White was the third Alabama finisher overall, behind Rachel Mitchell of Birmingham (2:55:18) and Ron Brooks of Spanish Fort (2:55:36). Ninety-six runners from Alabama officially completed the race, about a dozen more than last year.
More than 50,000 bibbed runners take part in the annual marathon, one of the “Big 6” majors in the world. It began in 1970 with runners making four (plus a little more) loops in Central Park. In 1976 it expanded into the five boroughs. According to the New York Road Runners, the average finish time is 4 hours, 50 minutes. It is considered the world’s largest marathon. Runners toodle through all five NYC boroughs as thousands of spectators offer encouragement along the way. The NYRR said for this year’s race, 128,000 drawing applications were received from 153 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
The New York City marathon route begins on Staten Island, with runners first crossing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. They make their way north through myriad neighborhoods into Queens before crossing the Queensboro Bridge into upper Manhattan. As relatively close as runners are to the finish at Central Park, they’re not done. They head north again to the Bronx before turning south back into Manhattan and into Central Park, finishing at Central Park West and 67th.
Top North Alabama Finishers
West Brininger, 54, of Huntsville, was the top Rocket City runner, crossing the line in 3:18:33.
Not far behind was Katherine McElroy Alley, 36, of Huntsville, in 3:50:10, and then Suzanne Swift, 55, of Huntsville, in 3:54:13. Other local finishers included:
— Ann Hatfield, 28, Brownsboro, 3:55:58
— Cheryl Fitts, 45, Athens, 4:16:56
— Meghan Katta, 27, Huntsville, 4:30:45
— Matthew Stark, 47, Madison, 4:36:07
— Russell Hubley, 42, Harvest, 5:00:38
— Amber Young, 43, Huntsville, 5:26:30
— Kristin Deaton, 43, Huntsville, 5:26:31
— Rick McNeal, 55, Huntsville, 7:29:25
To see all of the Alabama finishers, check this link. For overall results, go here and use Advanced Filter in the menu to find specific runners, states or other keys.
Top Tennessee Finishers
Luke Norman, 41, of Talbott, Tenn., was the top finisher in the Tennessee Valley Outsider footprint, crossing the line in 2:53:50. He was the second overall finisher from Tennessee, which had 147 runners in the marathon.
Sam Plemmons, 45, of Knoxville, was right behind Norman, finishing in 2:59:24. Courtney Carini, 43, of Knoxville, finished in 3:08:21.
Tennessee’s runners primarily were from the Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis areas.
To see all of the Tennessee finishers, check this link.
Interesting Marathon Facts
Here are some interesting facts and tidbits about the New York City Marathon, from the NYRR:
Total finishers: 51,402, including 28,501 men (55.45%), 22,807 women (44.37%) and 94 “non binary” (.18%)
Overall average time: 4:39:49
Runner homes: 35,770 runners not from the five boroughs finished; the rest included Manhattan (8,983), Bronx (567), Brooklyn (3,606), Queens (2,184) and Staten Island (292)
Men’s Winner: Tamarat Tola, Ethiopia, 2:04:58
Women’s Winner: Hellen Obiri, Kenya, 2:27:33
Youngest finisher: Pietro Saranga, 18, 4:38:31
Oldest finisher: Danil Farkash, 87, 9:46:23
Volunteers: More than 10,000
Top finishers and awards: Click here to see finishers, times, etc.
