Lynbrook man wins L.I. marathon

Lynbrook resident Dan McGrath, 27, won last Sunday’s Long Island Marathon, finishing in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 44 seconds.

“It was exciting to win,” McGrath said of the race, in which runners compete at three different distances. “The Long Island Marathon is a great local event for competitive local runners — as well as other recreational runners — to challenge themselves over 10K, the half-marathon and the marathon.”

McGrath said his excitement was tempered by the fact that his older brother, Shaun, 31, who finished seventh overall, had a disappointing race as a result of a hernia he has been suffering from for the past few months. “If not for this injury, Shaun probably would have run about 20 minutes faster yesterday,” Dan said on Monday.

The Long Island Marathon was first run in 1970 as the Earth Day Marathon. The event was renamed the Long Island Marathon in 1978, and a half marathon was added in 1984. It has become a popular first-Sunday-in-May tradition. All the races begin at 8 a.m. on Charles Lindbergh Boulevard. From there, runners in the half marathon follow the same route as those running the longer race until about the 10-mile marker, where the half marathon splits and takes the 13.1-mile field back to the finish line in Eisenhower Park.

A 5K race takes place on Saturday, and this year, despite the humid weather, more than 8,000 runners entered the two-day Festival of Races, the largest field in the past 13 years, according to race officials.

Dan McGrath said that he runs 80 to 90 miles a week for 12 to 16 weeks when he is preparing for a marathon. “I usually run a hard workout once or twice a week,” he said on Monday, “but due to injuries and illness, my buildup for yesterday’s race wasn’t quite as thorough as my buildups to previous marathons.”

McGrath started running during his freshman year at Archbishop Molloy High School, and went on to La Salle University and Notre Dame Law School, where he graduated in 2009. He was sworn in as an attorney just three weeks ago, and will begin working in the litigation department of Kelley Drye & Warren’s Manhattan office in September. He also volunteers at the Catholic Charities’ Immigrant Services office in Amityville.