Suffield’s Gerry La Plante is pictured with a smile near the finish line of the New York Marathon on November 6. His time? 5:00:00!
Gerry LaPlante considers his success in the recent New York Marathon a major life event, as well he should. On November 6 Gerry joined 52,000 runners from all 50 states and 124 countries in the world’s largest marathon, and possibly the best organized as well. Gerry’s goal was simply to finish the race in decent shape, and to enjoy the experience to its fullest. He describes the multi-month training program he designed as an enjoyable experience, and the race itself as a wonderful memory of “New York City at its best”—although he was not willing just yet to commit to another such visit!
The starting point for the runners was on Staten Island; the weather conditions were near perfect for the event, which progressed across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, through all five boroughs, and to its finale in Central Park. A crowd of well more than a million supporters lined the route, which was manned by 10,000 volunteers plus various police and security contingents. Gerry finished in precisely five hours to the nanosecond, which was in itself a kind of one-in-a-million outcome, giving him a place somewhere in the middle of men in his age group—and he has a hard-won medal to show for the exceptional effort it took.
The Observer congratulates Gerry on his victory and is proud that he is one of our Board members!