At mile four of the New York City Marathon, Lori Witt told herself she needed to settle down or she’d never finish the course.
“It didn’t feel real. It was very emotional,” she said. “I wanted to bawl pretty much the whole time.”
Witt, of Morgan, said running the marathon on Nov. 1 was an overwhelming experience, unlike anything she’s ever experienced.
“It felt like you were in the movies,” she said.
Adding to the surreal atmosphere was the tightened security, with helicopters flying overhead, bomb-sniffing dogs and a police presence everywhere. And then there were the spectators, just under two million people lined the route, cheering and giving high fives to the runners.
“I never experienced anything that moving, exhilarating,” Witt said. “Everybody was so happy to be out there. There were so many people supporting you.”
Though she’s a seasoned marathon runner, nothing compared to New York City. The course itself was unlike all the others.
“Toughest marathon course I’ve ever run because it was up and down,” Witt said. She said after mile 10, her legs were feeling pretty fatigued. She finished the race with a time of 4:36:40, not what she was hoping for, but a time she felt satisfied with, considering the challenge of the course.
To prepare for the marathon, Witt made long runs of 16, 18 or 20 miles once a week and ran shorter distances the other days of the week. She trained through the heat of the summer, running through rural Oconto County from her home in Morgan, while her husband, Andy, biked next to her and carried her water bottles.
Andy and friends Chris and Nan Williams, of Abrams, accompanied Witt to New York City, where they enjoyed the sights and the people, especially the Empire State Building at night, the street performers, China Town and Central Park. Witt said she likes living in the country and didn’t expect to love the city, and she found it hard to say goodbye.
Witt qualified for the New York City Marathon after being selected through the marathon’s lottery. She plans to register again for the marathon and encouraged other runners to enter the lottery, even if they’ve just started to run marathons. Witt’s path to the marathon route began about 10 years ago, when she was trying to lose weight.
“I did it to burn off calories faster than walking, and it snowballed,” she said. She lost about 25 pounds and has been running ever since. This year she ran four marathons, including her third Chicago Marathon on Oct. 10 and a 40.65-mile ultramarathon at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
She said the finish line is what keeps her motivated to race again.
“It feels pretty good after you get done running (a marathon). There’s nothing that can compare to that,” she said.
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