Marathon Moments That Made Us Laugh, Cry and Cheer

That There?s Something Bigger Than Target Times

On October 29, 2012, two runners in the Dublin Marathon abandoned their target times to help another: Wes Nolan was suffering severe dehydration and faltering in the final stretch, so Cathal Bracken and Bruce Carmichael supported him to the finish line. <br> <br> (<a href="http://joe.ie/news-politics/current-affairs/inspirational-photo-from-the-dublin-marathon-0029936-1">To see more -- and a surprising shot of crowds of runners in Dublin -- click here</a>.) <br> <br> <em>Ed Note: Photo shows the start of the 2012 Dublin Marathon.</em>

That Running Can Be A Statement Of Love

Londoner Adam Chataway had a unique reason for hoping that Sandy didn?t wash out the NYC Marathon -- it was to be the last stop on his unlikely quest to run 6 marathons in 6 countries in 30 days. No, he wasn't just trying to make the rest of us feel lazy. He?s trying to raise money to build classrooms in Ethiopia, as a way to honor his late fianc?e. <br> <br> (<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/01/sport/sandy-new-york-marathon-chataway/index.html">CNN has the whole story, including photos of Chataway at the finish of his 5 races in 2012.</a>) <br> <br> <em>Ed Note: Photo does not depict Adam Chataway.</em>

That Nothing Is Impossible

We all have our excuses. ?I can?t run today -- I?m really tired.? Or: ?I?m not in good enough shape to run a marathon.? Or: ?That sounds hard.? The story of Claire Lomas says feh to all that. In May of 2012, this 32-year-old woman completed the London Marathon -- 16 days after she started it, and 6 years after she became paralyzed from the chest down. She walks with the aid of a ?bionic? suit called ReWalk, <a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/09/with-help-of-a-bionic-suit-paralyzed-woman-finishes-london-marathon/">and has raised over $100,000 for charity with her marathon efforts</a>. <br> <br> Next up for this unstoppable athlete? No big deal, just a 200-mile bike ride for charity. (For more on her newest obstacle -- <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9627304/Paralysed-marathon-walker-Claire-Lomas-thwarted-by-French-in-new-cycling-challenge.html">a French law that changed her plans -- click here</a>.)

That A Father Will Go The Distance For His Son

Dick Hoyt might not win every marathon he runs, but he certainly wins ?Most Devoted Dad in the Marathon? (they have a medal for that, right?). Since 1977, <a href="http://www.teamhoyt.com/index.html">Hoyt has been competing in marathons and triathlons while pushing his son Rick</a> -- who was born with cerebral palsy and can?t walk -- in his wheelchair. <br> <br> According to their website, after their first race, Rick said, ?Dad, when I'm running, it feels like I'm not handicapped." This year, <a href="http://www.takethemagicstep.com/coaching/beginners/inspiration/an-unforgettable-boston-marathon-gave-thousands-an-insight-into-the-courage-of-team-hoyt/">the team, now ages 71 and 50, ran their 30th (!) Boston Marathon</a>. <br> <br> (Find out more about <a href="http://www.teamhoyt.com/index.html">Team Hoyt -- including their next race -- by clicking here.</a>)

That Sometimes You Have To Run 'Like An Intoxicated Orangutan'

In 1987, a visit to a clinic to stop smoking inspired Margaret Hagerty to start running, as she says, ?like an intoxicated orangutan.? Now 85, Hagerty has run 80 marathons, and won a Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to have run a marathon on all 7 continents. She?s an adventurous runner, traveling all across the world. After racing in Antartica, Hagerty told AARP she felt like she could do just about anything. And apparently, she can. <br> <br> (<a href="http://www.aarp.org/health/fitness/info-10-2008/marathon_woman_margaret_hagerty.html">To see an interview with Hagerty and a video of her running -- and to see her trophy collection and learn about how she broke a state record -- click here.</a>) <br> <br> <em>Ed. Note: Hagerty is not the woman in the photo.</em>

That You Have To Break The Rules To Change The World

Hard to believe it was only 40 years ago that the first woman ran the Boston Marathon. Harder still to believe that Kathrine Switzer?s run was so controversial that one of the race officials flew at her in a rage and tried to physically stop her from running. Imagine -- it was thought that marathons were too strenuous for women?s dainty bodies. (That?s not all that?s changed ?- <a href="http://www.kathrineswitzer.com/index.shtml">just look at the sweat suits they used to run in!</a>) <br> <br> Switzer?s marathon changed the conversation, and within 5 years women were officially allowed to enter the Boston Marathon; this year, more than 10,000 women ran.

That One Man Can Help Thousands Run Their Race

We all know the amazing stories of recent Olympian (and double amputee) Oscar Pistorius and world-record-holder (and double amputee) Richard Whitehead, and we have almost become inured to the magic of marathoners running on prosthetic limbs. But in 1976, such a feat was unheard of. That was when Dick Traum became the first amputee to run the New York Marathon. Since then he has competed in marathons in 30 states, and has inspired thousands of athletes with disabilities -- many of whom never dreamed they could run -- to participate in his Achilles Track Club. <br> <br> (To find out his fail-safe method for getting a newcomer motivated, learn how he found himself in Kabul and <a href="http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-560--13340-0,00.html">read the story of the accident that set him on this path, click here</a>.)

That Winners Help Others (Even Rivals)

Derartu Tulu thought she was done running. She'd made history at the Barcelona Olympics 17 years earlier, becoming the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meters. But after the birth of her second child, she'd struggled to get back into shape. At 37, she was at the 2009 New York Marathon, not expecting to win, when she passed her longtime competitor Paula Radcliffe. Victory could be hers, but what did Tulu do? She urged Radcliffe on, saying, "Come on. We can do it." She even waited for Radcliffe on Fifth Avenue, but when it became apparent Radcliffe couldn?t maintain the pace, Tulu set off -- and won the women?s race. <br> <br> (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/sports/02women.html">Find out what Radcliffe says of Tulu by clicking here.</a>) <br> <br> <em>Ed. Note: Photo shows Tulu and Radcliffe running in the 8th IAAF World Athletic Championships in Edmonton, Canada. </em>

That One Man Can Restore A National Legacy

The whole idea of a marathon springs from the ancient Greeks, who invented the long-distance run as a commemoration of the soldier Pheidippides, who <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheidippides">ran from the Battle of Marathon to Athens</a> to deliver a message of victory. (Um, and then died immediately afterwards, but never mind that.) <br> <br> So Greece was collectively overjoyed when Spyridon Louis, a Greek postal worker, won the first modern-day Olympic marathon. Louis won the 1896 gold medal running in shoes donated by his fellow villagers -- 69 years before the invention of Gatorade. (<a href="http://www.olympic.org/spyridon-louis">To discover his nostalgic, sweet memory of the event, 40 years later, click here.</a>)

That It?s Never Too Late

Fauja Singh made headlines in 2011 when he ran the Toronto Marathon. At age 100. Here?s a factoid from the ?never too late to start something new? files: Singh started running in his 80s, in part to raise awareness of the importance of exercise. He attributes his lifelong good health and stamina to a diet of curry and tea and, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15330421">as he told the BBC, ?being happy</a>.? In early October 2012, Singh, then 101, ran a 5K in British Columbia, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211641/Worlds-oldest-marathoner-Fauja-Singh-101-runs-race-Canada-5k-time.html">this time running with four generations of his family.</a> <br> <br> (<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211641/Worlds-oldest-marathoner-Fauja-Singh-101-runs-race-Canada-5k-time.html">For more photos -- and to see his stretching routine -- click here.</a>)

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/marathon-marathons-the-new-york-marathon_n_2070090.html

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