From an Olympian to a 45-race veteran: the hopes of New York Marathon runners

New York is a city built on detours. Even the most straightforward journey can turn on a dime – be it an unexpected road closure, unreliable subway, or the unorthodox navigation of a cab driver – into a protracted, often painful, expedition.

The city’s marathon is no exception.

As the sun rises on Sunday, more than 50,000 runners will descend on Staten Island with their sights set on reaching Central Park. While the most direct route to the finish line would cover a little over 16 miles, a 26.2-mile slog through the city’s five boroughs, across five bridges and a multitude of rolling hills lies ahead for the runners.

The New York City Marathon is widely considered the toughest world major for a reason.

Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya, each victorious a year ago, are back to defend their titles. They will face stiff competition: other previous winners returning to the fray include Evans Chebet, Albert Korir and Geoffrey Kamworor in the men’s field; and Sharon Lokedi and Edna Kiplagat in the women’s.

A string of American hopefuls are also in the mix, with Olympians Conner Mantz, Clayton Young and Dakotah Popehn back from Paris; CJ Albertson competing just a few weeks after a strong performance in Chicago; and 2018 Boston Marathon winner Des Linden returning for a fifth time.

But the pack of the world’s largest marathon is as wide as it is deep. The former champions and Olympians confronting this course will also lead a legion of runners – first-timers, fundraisers and octogenarian veterans among them – on this convoluted tour.

Related: Hellah Sidibe: the man on a seven-year run streak who once hated running

The Guardian spoke to four athletes as they prepared for Sunday’s race.

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Minutes into the race, as the elite pack scales the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and the highest point of the course, Linden allows herself a brief glance to her left. “I always take a moment to appreciate the views going into the city,” she said. “It’s just spectacular.”

Weaving through each neighborhood, and experiencing each unique community, “the roads are shut down for you to be in the center, have a parade and get this tour of the city,” Linden, a two-time Olympian, says.

The bridges are steep, but the chance to run across them – and take in the views – is “pretty special,” she adds. New York “is the center of the universe, particularly on marathon weekend.”

Linden, 41, represented Team USA at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics. She has run Boston 11 times and New York four. This time, the aim is for a “same-day finish”, she says with a grin.

The hot favorites, including some of the dominant performers in Paris this summer, may be “a little bit too rich for me, at this point in my career”, she admits. “I’m still enjoying and loving racing, but I don’t have anything to prove, necessarily, at this point.”

But you never know how the race will unfold. “Anything can happen,” says Linden. “We’ll see how it plays out.”

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Connie Brown, 80, has run this race more than any other woman: 44 times. For months, she has been training for the 45th.

She remembers finishing for the first time in tears, as her hope that she could do it gave way to the realization that she had. She remembers the live bands, witty signs and kind words which have helped her get to Central Park so many times since.

And she remembers celebrating the early years by dancing the night away, including one post-race party at a Broadway nightclub.

Brown has run New York through heatwaves and showers, under sunshine and lightning – the latter would more likely hit a building than a person, she told herself as it cracked overhead – and past throngs of cheering spectators.

Days before she had been due to fly up for this weekend’s race, personal circumstances forced Brown to stay home. in Sarasota, Florida. She still plans to run a marathon on Sunday, heading out at around 3am to beat the heat.

At this stage, the endeavor is “part of who I think I am,” she says. “I’m the person who runs at least one marathon a year.”

Over the decades, running “has given me a confidence”, says Brown. “Anything you put your mind to – make a goal, make a plan, follow it through – you can do. If you can do this, you can do anything.”

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Thousands of runners travel across the world to take on New York. Nate Kahaiali’i, 33, has flown nearly 5,000 miles from Hawaii.

When the teacher and his neighbors were evacuated as wildfires swept Maui last summer, he figured he would return soon enough. Kahaiali’i picked up a few bits and pieces, not realizing what he chose would become all he had left from his house.

Like so many others, he lost his home.

Among the small collection he had salvaged were his trusted pair of bright orange Nike Vaporfly running shoes. To him they have become “symbolic, in a way,” of his hometown of Lāhainā.

Wearing them, as he will on Sunday, is “a way for me to honor, but also represent, the community,” says Kahaiali’i, who has raised almost $7,000 (and counting) for the reconstruction effort by selling T-shirts with the words “Lāhainā Strong”.

“The main hope – whether they buy the shirt, or not – is just to keep Maui in people’s minds,” he says. “It’s been a year, but there’s still a lot of work for a lot of families out here in Lāhainā.”

Kahaiali’i, who teaches health, also hopes his marathons will inspire his students, who call him Mr K. “Every time I come back, they’re like: ‘Did you win? Did you win?’,” he says. “I’m like ‘No, I’m not that fast’.”

He is planning to wear his Vaporflys at all six of the world major marathons. With four to go, “they’re still in pretty good shape.”

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Concepcion Gonzalez, 65, had not run “even a mile” before this summer. She is about to run her first marathon.

For years, Gonzalez – who has lived in New York for more than three decades – has sat in the grandstand cheering on her daughter, Teresita, and son, Luis.

She watched as hundreds of people, of all abilities, and from all walks of life, crossed the finish line. “I saw people who look like me, and I thought I could do it, one day.”

Gonzalez is under no illusions that it will be easy. “Everybody goes through tough times,” she says. “People fall down. They can get up. I, too, can embark on this journey.”

For many who tackle it, this course is less a race than it is a feat of resilience; more a test of perseverance than pace. But she is prepared.

Gonzalez, who will run alongside Teresita, 29, and Luis, 32, on Sunday, is excited to see her city from a new angle. “I feel a sense of pride, being from New York City,” she says, “in being able to represent New York City”.

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Brown, who first ran New York in 1978, has plenty of advice for first-timers. “Don’t eat anything you haven’t eaten before” the night before, for starters. Don’t fret too much about sleeping well, either. And if one of your knees starts feeling dodgy, “think about your other knee”.

Linden recommends treating the first two miles – a steep uphill climb on the Verrazzano, setting up a sharp downhill descent – as a warm-up, and not worrying too much about pace. “Really, it’s great,” she says, “because New York’s only a 24-mile marathon when you take those two out.”

Conversely, once you reach Manhattan in the second half, try not to push too hard. The crowd is “just electric”, says Linden, “and you’re going to feel like ‘I must be winning,’ cause they’re going so nuts. But you’ve still got a long ways to go.”

Just soak it all up, adds Brown. “Don’t miss things,” she says. “Don’t be so into yourself and focused on your running that you’re not seeing the neighborhoods, that you’re not seeing the people that are there.”

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Some people run New York to show the world. Others are out to show themselves.

As elite marathon times get faster and faster, those at the very front are running against the clock. But the majority of runners who stride through the five boroughs are running for something.

For some, this marathon amounts to a grueling physical test. Others will encounter the mental challenges that materialize when your body is pushed to its limits. Many, if not most, will be forced to grapple with both.

No matter the journey that led them here; whether it’s their first time, or 45th; whether they’re a few thousand miles, or a stone’s throw, from home; some 50,000 will gather in Sunday’s early hours with the same fundamental goal.

Central Park is waiting.