Elmont marathoner gears up for big run

For distance runners, every mile is an exercise in pushing themselves further and testing the limits of what they can do physically. Every muscle is stretched farther, every breath puffs out the chest a little wider.

Elmont resident Dan Delahanty, 26, has been a runner since December of 2007. It’s a sport he took up when he decided he wanted to get in shape and lose a few pounds. He says he never had any idea of taking it seriously, it was just a way to keep on his toes, physically.

Less than two years later and Delahanty is an in-practice triathlete just weeks away from taking on one of the most famous 26-mile runs in the world.

“When I originally started my first goal was just to run a couple miles, really,” Delahanty said. “That’s the thing about running, as you get better your goals shift, and then the idea was to do a triathlon.”

Delahanty, a Sewanhaka High School graduate, said distance running, and the other sports of the triathlon — swimming and biking — were the opposite of the activities he participated in during his younger years. He played football and threw discuss for the Indians, both activities that value power and quick bursts of strength over the sustained effort that running represents. It’s that difference, however, that he says he enjoys about the sport.

“When i first started doing this, i never thought I’d be able to run a marathon,” Delahanty said. “When it comes to running, you really want to see how far you can take it, how far you can make your body go. The feeling of accomplishment that you get is great, and the thing you think to yourself as you finish a race is ‘What’s next? How can I push myself further?’”

Delahanty said that he’s always had a strong competitive spirit, and running also appeals to him because the most intense competition is a runner against themselves.

“Unless you’re an absolutely elite athlete, going for a top three finish, then the competition is really with yourself,” he said. “It’s a really supportive community, and it’s been interesting to get into.”

Elmont, he said, is always a starting and finishing point for his practice runs — anywhere from a quick three-mile trip up and down local streets to the more grueling 20-mile stretches — as well as a gym where he works out in Lake Success. Every run kicks off from his home on Lehrer Avenue, and winds around local roads, sometimes to Garden City, sometimes even further.

As for participating in his first marathon, Delahanty said his feelings have been a mix of happy excitement and nerves. After participating in the Long Island marathon earlier this year — his first ever — he felt he was ready to take a chance in New York City, and put his name into the lottery system. When he found himself with a slot, he said he was a mix of emotions.

“I was really happy and excited, and then I thought, do i really want to do this?” The training regimen required to get ready for a marathon is intense. Runners usually build slowly, with smaller runs designed to ease the body into longer distances.

“You build up week by week, until you get to a 20-mile run,” he said. “I got to a point in my training where I said to myself, ‘I don’t want to do this,’ and then I completed my last 20-mile run and I said, ‘I’m ready, I can do this, and I’m going to have a good time doing it.’”

Delahanty finished his Long Island Marathon run in three hours and 36 minutes. He said he has a similar goal for the New York City Marathon, trying to come in under three hours and 40 minutes.

Of all the places in the five boroughs that Delahanty will drive through, he said he’s most nervous about the 59th Street Bridge.

“People say the 59th Street Bridge is kind of odd,” he said. “The whole time you’re running you’re either with a crowd of people or there’s people cheering, then when you hit the bridge there’s no one on it. That’s where I’ve heard it gets a little nerve-wracking because all you can hear is your feet pounding the pavement.”

If he can make it to that point, he said, he’ll feel ready to finish.

“Once I get through that, it will be downhill from there for me.”