By Nick Buglione
More than 5,000 people ran the 26.2-mile marathon or the 13.1-mile half marathon last year, and the county hopes it can add 1,000 participants before the gun sounds in East Meadow's Eisenhower Park on May 1.
Suozzi, who plans to run the half marathon, will be the first county executive to take part in the race, which started more than 30 years ago. "Until last year, I had never run more than a mile in my life," Suozzi said. "But people have been pressuring me to do this."
The county executive added that he doesn't anticipate running faster than 10-minute miles. At that pace, he would finish the half marathon in a little over two hours.
The county has been pushing to transform the Long Island Marathon into an event that could one day compare to the Boston or New York marathons. Last year the county made a considerable effort to attract more sponsors, and rerouted the marathon's course to include less of the Wantagh Parkway and more local thoroughfares in the Uniondale, Salisbury and East Meadow areas.
"Historically, this marathon was run on the parkways," Suozzi said. It's believed that the old marathon route stunted its popularity because it wasn't spectator-friendly. Runners also complained that it was boring.
The new route, which still starts and finishes in Eisenhower Park and includes a scaled-back stretch of the Wantagh Parkway, snakes through the Nassau County Hub, taking runners past landmarks like the Nassau Coliseum, the Mitchel Field track and museum row.
Revitalizing the Hub has been at the top of the county executive's to-do list, and he views the Long Island Marathon as another way of attracting attention to it. "We're trying to bring it more into this Hub area of the county, which we are billing as the center of Nassau County," Suozzi said. "We want to make it an exciting event not just for the runners, but for the spectators and the county as a whole."
That's not to say that all the runners were thrilled with the new course. Peter Hawkins, a Malverne resident and last year's winner in the push wheelchair division, prefers the old one. "I've done [the old course] so much, I could do it in my sleep," said Hawkins, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in his senior year of high school. "There are more turns in this one, which slow you down."
Marlene Mignano of Merrick, however, can't wait to run the course again this year. "It was awesome," said Mignano, who finished first in the women's marathon last year. "I couldn't imagine running a full 26 miles on the old course."
The Long event is scheduled for Sunday, May 1, at 8 a.m., and there is still time for runners to register. Information is available at www.thelimarathon.com.
"I thought the response [last year] was very, very good," said David Katz, the event's technical director. "We're always shooting to do better."
The Marathon Expo will be held on Friday, April 29, from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday April 30, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Mitchel Athletic Complex. The expo is open to the public and will feature exhibits on health, running and fitness.
All those who have registered for either race must attend the expo to pick up their race materials and gift packets. New runners can also registered at the expo.
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