NYC Marathon

By Kwanwoo Jun

LONG ISLAND CITY, New York - Thousands of people – including babies, kids, volunteers, couples, parents and seniors – cheered, clapped and jangled little pink bells today, in support of New York City Marathon runners on 11th Street and 48th Avenue in Long Island City.

Some waved name inscribed placards to support friends and families running in the race and others did “Go” shouts through megaphones, made of hands or plastics. Party music also blared from a speaker.

Cheers later turned into roars when throngs of runners flowed in.

“It’s moving to see the paralyzed people with disability and to see their mental strength to do that,” said William Telesco, 43, of Long Island City as he watched a group of handicapped wheel chair racers pass.

For Gina Cazzola, 43, a Girl Scout troop leader who has led her students to support the event for years, the chill outside is a fair price to pay for seeing the runners.

“It inspires me,” Cazzola, of Flushing Queens, said. She helped her Girl Scouts set up a water distribution table. The girls had blankets, folding chairs, coffee thermos and donuts to help them stand the cold and hunger.

“Donuts get us through. Donuts and coffee,” she said.

Eric Benaim, 32, a local realtor on nearby Vernon Boulevard, set up a free food and coffee table out on the street for the crowds.

“We give back to the neighborhood, and we hope the neighborhood give back to us,” he said.

Jeff Grayzel, 47, of Morristown, N.J, drove more than an hour to Long Island City to see his friends in the race. His wife stood on a chair and waved a placard ’Go Rose City Runners! Yeah Dick, Kim, Mark.’

Grayzel had been playing a chess game with one of his sons on the street, but they when they heard they cheer they took up pink plastic megaphones and rushed to the roadside and shouted, “Keep it up guys. Keep it up.”

“Kids didn’t want to come today. Now they are having a lot of fun,” he said.

Many viewers sat on lawn chairs they brought to the crowded streets.

“I thought if it’s going to be a long time, it could be a little stress on the back to be standing the whole time,” said Brian McGovern, 52, a lawyer from Long Island, who had been waiting for his business partner to turn up on the street.

Standing next to his chair was a backpack of books and newspapers.