Local Runners Complete NYC Marathon

by Joan R. Simon

(November 9, 2006) You would think Christie Derrico, 35, of Mamaroneck has enough to do without running the New York City marathon. The mother of three school-age children, a lawyer with her own firm, and the president of the Larchmont-Mamaroneck League of Women Voters, Ms. Derrico still found time to train for the marathon this year. Last week she finished the course in just over 4½ hours (roughly 10.5 minutes per mile).

Ms. Derrico was one of more than 37,000 participants in this year’s marathon, 33 of whom were from Larchmont and Mamaroneck (see local list, below). She didn’t love getting up daily at 5:45 am to train, but “It’s like meditation," she said. "It’s a very good stress reliever. Running solves problems. Whenever I have a problem I put my running shoes on and go out and I solve the problem.” Could she eat whatever she wanted while she was training? “I didn’t lose any weight,” she lamented. “It’s a bummer. I still had to eat yogurt and all the good stuff.”

Nancy Weinrib, a Mamaroneck runner, gets a victory hug at the finish line. Photo by Rick Roth.

Running her second New York marathon after 10 years, Ms. Derrico was thrilled to see Lance Armstrong and many others who were fundraising for charities. “As you’re running,” she said,” you see all of these people with inspirational shirts and raising money and it’s just wonderful.”

One of those runners was Jean Marie Stein, a Mamaroneck mother of two, who was running with “Fred’s Team” to raise money for leukemia research in honor of her niece who had died a year before. Fred’s Team was started by Fred Lebow, founder of the NYC Marathon, to raise funds for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

“I was never a runner. I never enjoyed it,” said Ms. Stein. But she decided to train for the marathon because “I felt I had to do something that was out of my comfort zone, something really big that would take a long time. My intention was always to raise money for leukemia.”

At the beginning of her training, Ms. Stein said, “I couldn’t have been slower. But I ended up really loving it. Your body relaxes and your mind really slows down. If you run for more than 40 minutes, you see a big difference. That’s when you entered that zone.”

Ms. Stein raised over $14,000 dollars, most of it locally. “I can’t tell you how many Mamaroneck and Larchmont residents were out lining the streets in Manhattan" to cheer her on, she added. Will she do it again? Not likely. Her last few miles were really difficult: “I didn’t know that it would actually hurt.”

Heidi Hanley wrapped up after the race. Photo by Chris Parry.

Training alongside Ms. Stein was Heidi Hanley, who was also raising money through Fred’s Team for lung cancer research in memory of her sister-in-law. “I’ve always been a runner,” she said, although this was her first marathon. She and Ms. Stein devised what she called a “hybrid training program” taken from several recommended routines. “We asked everyone we knew who had run for tips” and “we stuck to it like glue.”

The marathon brought together her four siblings from around the country, as well as her husband’s family and her three children, who attend Mamaroneck schools. “I smiled all the way through it.” Would she run again? “Is my husband going to read this?” Ms. Hanely jokingly replied. “It definitely takes a lot of time to get all the training in, but I would love to do it again,” she said, adding she would probably skip a year.

Jack Devine of Larchmont didn't start running until he was 40, despite the fact that all five of his sisters are runners. Last Sunday's marathon was his first in New York, but his second overall. A native of Larchmont (since high school) he has raised his four children here. He credits the New York Road Runners training regimen with helping improve his time by 19 minutes over his first marathon a year ago. Will he run the New York marathon again? Yes, he said, “but I’d like to do it with a few friends from town."

LOCAL RUNNERS: NYC MARATHON

(source: The Journal News, November 5, 2006)

3+ hours

David Kass, 36, M, 3:11:55
Jacob Kaarsbo, 36, L, 3:14:04
Daniel Deckman, 29, M, 3:31:09
Sean Healey, 34 M, 3:31:16
Bruce Albert, 36, L, 3:33:06
Sioban Neary, 32, L, 3:34:25
Erik Brocklebank, 38, L, 3:37:15
Laurence Spollen, 29, L, 3:38:43
Lyerly Spongberg, 38, L, 3:41:26
Rob Paulmeno, 33, L, 3:46:43
Pierre-Antoine Boulat, 47, L, 3:57:18
William Webb, 40, L, 3:58:07

4+ hours

Robin Plonsker, 41, L, 4:01:06
Heidi Hanley, 45 M, 4:12:36
Jean Marie Stein, 42, M, 4:25:32
Monique Nicolle, 46, M, 4:29:04
Christie Derrico, 35, M, 4:31:36
John Devine, 48, L, 4:33:46
Alison Sauer, 23, L, 4:34:52
Nancy Weinrib, 48, M, 4:36:50
Paul Guggenheimer, 36, L, 4:37:28
Sam Zambardino, 50, M, 4:41:51
Kristen Lindberg, 31, M, 4:44:21
Dan Davoli, 29 M, 4:44:29
Scott Dynan, 30, M, 4:47:50
Erin Henk, 27, M, 4:57:26

5+ hours

Thomas Chin, 45, M, 5:00:05
Alejandro Espada, 27, M, 5:28:59
Argentino Munoz, 44, M, 5:49:12

6 or more hours

Paul Goodman, 48, M, 6:00:56
Connie Espada, 56, M, 6:39:34
Annick Bagley, 57, M, 6:52:19
Jerry Malett, 68, L, 7:48:51

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