"Always a Great Feeling"

Louis (Louie) Nacer has been running NYRR races since 1980 and has crossed hundreds of finish lines. On March 20 he’ll add another finish when he completes the United Airlines NYC Half.

“I love this race and I’m so glad it’s back,” said Louie, 69, who lives in Forest Hills, Queens, and ran the United Airlines NYC Half in 2007, 2018, and 2019, and the virtual United Airlines NYC Half last year.

A native of Ecuador, Louie moved to Forest Hills with his family when he was 7. He learned English and assimilated quickly, with sports and a gregarious personality easing the way. He played high school basketball and remained active in college even though he was a heavy smoker and a member of a rock band.

“I used to see people running and it never occurred to me it was something I could do,” Louie said. In 1976, just before graduating from Baruch College, he quit smoking and started running with a friend.

“We’d go to a local track and run four laps—a mile,” he recalled. “After a while I thought, OK, now what?”

Louie heard about the New York City Marathon, got in through the lottery in 1980, and finished in three hours and 29 minutes (pictured above).

“After that it became something I had to do every year,” he said. He’s run 39 times, most recently in 2021; his medal collection is pictured below.

Louie loves the challenge of running, and how it feels to cross a finish line. “It’s always a great feeling,” he said. “I will never be at the front, but that doesn’t matter.”

He’s a regular at NYRR Open Run in Cunningham Park, which reopened last year, and looks forward to the return of Open Run to Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Cocheron Park.

Louie also relishes running’s health benefits. “My doctor calls me his trophy patient,” he said.

He has fond memories of NYRR races in the 1980s and 90s, when a precursor of the United Airlines NYC Half, the Hispanic Half Marathon, was one of his favorites. “It was in Central Park in the summer—I did it every year,” he said.

The United Airlines NYC Half will serve as a warm-up of sorts for his 40th TCS New York City Marathon. “It has the same feeling as the marathon—crossing bridges, running through the streets, finishing in Central Park,” he said. “It’s a beautiful experience.”