Race Day 2004: Up-Close

Many lifelong best friends jumped at the opportunity to run side-by-side in the MORE Marathon. “This is my 22nd marathon and I’m excited to be experiencing this with my best friend,” said Sharron Fisherman, 58, of Houston, Texas, at left. Best friend Sharon Peterson, 48, also of Houston and participating in her 8th marathon, agreed. “I’m thrilled to participate in the first marathon for women only.”

Dressed in matching red-and-black running outfits were best friends, the “Nancys from Lowell, Massachussetts.” Nancy Donahue, 46, left, modeled for MORE when the magazine first launched. "In your 20s and 30s, athleticism is easier to achieve, said her half-marathon team partner, Nancy Flaherty, 43. “But at our age it is a lifestyle choice.”

New Jersey residents Maria Warner, 38, of Moorestown; Jill Dalton, 42, and Stephanie Bartner, 43, both of Colts Neck; and Eileen McCarthy, 43, of Mahwah couldn’t wait to start running the half-marathon together. “It’s another door opening for women over 40. However, it’s not a door to a doctor’s office,” jokes Dalton. All four women are also planning on entering the MORE/Wilhelmina model contest.

“In honor of newly turning 40, I took up running,” said Anne Whitaker, 41, of Yorktown, Virginia, at left. “I want this to be an example of strength for my 6- and 9-year-old daughters who will see me at the finish line,” said Whitaker’s half-marathon partner, Sara Sutton, 41, of Newport News, Virginia.

“After many years of barriers, of ageism and sexism, this marathon shows that the barriers have fallen,” said Kathrine Switzer, 56, a spokesperson for the MORE Marathon, winner of the 1974 New York City Marathon, and the first woman to run the Boston Marathon wearing official numbers. “Women can do anything!”

“I think women over 40 are unbelievable,” said Grete Waitz, 50, a spokesperson for the MORE Marathon and a nine-time winner of the New York City Marathon. “This event shows that age has no limit.”

MORE Marathon spokewomen Kathrine Switzer and Grete Waitz join the crowd in a cheer at the starting line for the half-marathon.

Shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday, hundreds of women are ready to make history in Central Park as part of the first-ever marathon for women over 40.

And they’re off! The half-marathon covers 13.1 miles of hilly New York City terrain inside Central Park.

The half-marathon was set up as a team event in which one participant had to be at least 40; the second woman could be of any age.

Elation lit up the face of a half-marathon runner as she began her two-lap journey around Central Park.

Bernice Fitzgerald, 73, of Maplewood, New Jersey, entered the half-marathon with a friend’s daughter. As part of her routine exercise program, she walks 10 laps around her neighborhood every day, she says. “I think this event is great because running keeps me young,” Fitzgerald said.

At 8:20 a.m., a few blocks away from the half-marathon’s starting line, the full marathon got underway!

“These women here today are examples for us mothers, for our daughters, for all of us,” said Mary Steenburgen, the star of star of the TV show Joan of Arcadia, and a celebrity supporter of the Step Up Women’s Network, which received a $15,000 donation from the MORE Marathon. “They’re not running against each other. There is a real team-life environment.”

With one lap down and one lap to go, these half-marathoners enjoyed keeping on pace with one another.

Two days after a snowstorm, the unpredictable weather gave MORE Marathon a perfect-running-weather day. Despite clouds and blustery winds, the day also sported moments of blissful sunshine.

At the completion of her race, every MORE Marathon participant received a rose.

Half-marathon participants were awarded with a medal on a blue ribbon, while each full marathon participant received a medal on a white ribbon.

With matching red roses and beaming smiles, stepdaughter Jordana Wissot, 32, of Brooklyn, New York, and her stepmother Alyn Park, 52, of Denver, Colorado, were proud to make it to the half-marathon finish line. “Can you believe it? She only started training in January,” said Wissot of her teammate. “I wanted to do this fabulous thing together. I’m so proud of both of us!” said Park.

MORE Marathon day presented more than an opportunity for a long morning run for these two friends. “Surrounded by women, you were pushed by the company of great runners,” said Wanda Bills, 42, of Bronx, New York, at left. “I look forward to running this marathon when I’m long past 40,” said Earline Smith, 36, of Hempstead, New York.

After a tough race, sweet victory at last for both mother and daughter, hand in hand.

Jacksonville, Florida mother-daughter team Mimi and Lindsay Bryant, 54 and 26 respectively, showed the Sunshine State pride with their hot pink T-shirts, complete with palm trees.

These three friends wave to friends and family on their way to the finish line.

Holding hands tight, these three marathoners showed their pride with bright smiles. One park bystander repeatedly yelled out to MORE Marathon participants, “Central Park has never looked so beautiful.”

Jillian Flynn, 42, of New York City, helps Sr. Mary Gladys, a frequent participant in New York Road Runners marathons, with a final push.

Roxie Erikson, 41, of Omaha, Nebraska was the frontrunner in the full MORE Marathon until champion Marie Murphy, 44, of Sherman Oaks, California took the lead at the 21-mile mark.

Marie Morland, 40, pushed her “training partner” son Craig along the entire half-marathon route. Marie is one of 19 women from Okemos, Michigan who participated in the MORE Marathon.