Meet Dave, the retiree running his 40th NY marathon

“To see the firemen and policemen out there cheering for us for something that seems so inconsequential, it was just handsome”.

Along with the 50,000-plus runners and countless spectators converging on the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon Sunday, the department will police the Village Halloween parade Saturday, three (possible) World Series games at Citi Field in Queens, and prepare for a visit from President Obama Monday. “Winning a race like New York Marathon is not easy”.

The race begins on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge before going though many western Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Bay Ridge, Park Slope and Williamsburg.

Lee is the first New Yorker to serve as grand marshal of the New York City Marathon in the forty-five-year history of the race. The 45th running of the race will also be available to fans in the New York area on WatchABC and beyond the city on WatchESPN.

He’ll continue pushing himself to inspire new runners – and he probably already has, having appeared in an ad for the Champion sportwear brand – and “to keep this really positive dynamic of accepting I can do the same things just with different conditions”, he said.

In 1976 the marathon route was changed to take in all five boroughs of New York. “If the athletes try… or if anyone tries to make a move, I shall be ready for it”. Earlier this week, Lee travelled to Bristol, Connecticut, to confer with ESPN, a broadcast partner of the marathon.

The secret to running so many consecutive marathons is not only setting a goal, according to Capiraso, but more importantly the “millions of people cheering for you on that day”.

– American men won the first 13 marathons, including Bill Rodgers for times and Alberto Salazar three times.

“Look, it’s not about me”, he told a gaggle of reporters Thursday morning.

“That year I ran without a number”. It was formed immediately after the announcement of the foundation in 2014 to help marathon runners raise money to advance the charity’s mission by funding education, athletics and community activities.

As a child, Lee said, he loved playing sports, especially basketball.