#MovedMe: Breathtaking Finish in ’05 Inspired Ted to Capture Shalane’s Magic Moment
My first experience of the New York City Marathon came in 2005, when I was a junior in high school. My coach entered me in a 2.5-mile race in Central Park the morning of the marathon, and the race finished at the actual marathon finish line—so it was sort of a predecessor to what the Rising New York Road Runners Youth Invitational is today.
I had to start the race at the back of the pack, because I had arrived at the park a little late, but I was lucky enough to end up placing 15th. (Thank you, chip times!) The top-15 finishers then took part in an awards ceremony at the Naumburg Bandshell, and I’m pretty sure the plaque I was given that day is still hanging on the wall in my room at my parents’ house.
After the race, my coach, one of my teammates, and I walked to a restaurant on First Avenue for a watch party. We saw the elites run past, and then the mid-pack runners, and when it came time for the pro race finish, it seemed like everyone in the restaurant was focused on the screens as Paul Tergat and Hendrick Ramaala were running side by side in Central Park, down to the very last meter.
I have only a vague idea of the times they ran that day (Ed. note: Tergat won in 2:09:30), and that’s however many minutes off of the event record and the world record, but how can you not get hyped watching two people sprint all-out for the win after 26 miles?
Fast forward 13 years and I’ll be at the finish line on race day at the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon, taking photos of the first-place pro finishers for NYRR’s social media team. I’m hoping I can capture a moment just like that dramatic shot from 2005, with Tergat narrowly breaking the tape as Ramaala falls over the line, completely spent.
…Although I think I came pretty close last year, when I shot these photos of Shalane Flanagan becoming the first American to win the women’s open race in 40 years:
