Here’s What Kept the NYC Marathon’s ‘Final Finishers’ Going in the Home Stretch

The home stretch of the New York City Marathon is dusted with confetti—colorful pieces of paper that litter the sidewalks along the last leg of the 26.2-mile course. By 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, most of the runners had long since crossed the finish line, but I wasn’t there to document the winners who took home a portion of the substantial prize pot and the respect of the entire Big Apple: My interests lay with the stragglers.

And I wasn’t alone. Nearly nine hours after the first runner broke the tape, a crowd of spectators, volunteers, and other athletes was still in position to welcome the final batch of marathoners—whistling, cheering, and waving glowsticks despite the late hour and dropping temps. Every time a new runner jogged, walked, or limped up, they were congratulated by a dozen strangers, bombarded with high fives, and enveloped in a thick orange marathon-issue poncho to stave off the cold. Tired as they were, they all beamed when the medal was draped around their neck.

Many of the “final finishers” who spoke to SELF pointed to this supportive atmosphere as a distinctive aspect of the New York City Marathon. Some had come from afar to compete—occasionally very, very afar. Two women from New Zealand, Rosie Dell, 67, and Alison Shannon, 63, are members of an organization that caters to slower runners and had traveled to New York with an Australian marathon travel agency. “We trained together and we decided to stick together,” Dell told SELF. “When one of us was flagging, the other would say, ‘Have you eaten? Have you had anything to drink?’” Still, there were moments when Dell was tempted to throw in the towel. Around the 10K mark, a rough patch of the course “let some negative thoughts in,” Dell said, but she tried to stay positive. “I can do this,” she told herself. “Left foot, right foot, just keep going.” And, in the end, she did.

There were plenty of other duos too. Wearing matching “Black Girls Run!” hats, Char Willis and Joyce Rowlett, both 56-year-olds from the Albany area, finished together around 8:30 p.m. “We’ve been best friends since we were 14,” Willis told SELF. “She’s faster than me, but she didn’t want to leave me behind.” Meanwhile, Waldo Best, 58, of White Plains, New York, said his 25-year-old son popped up next to him on the course around the nine-mile mark and offered some words of encouragement. “I was so surprised when I saw him. I said, ‘What are you doing here?!’” Best told SELF. “But he said, ‘Come on, let’s go.’”

Later on, volunteers with the New York Road Runners—the nonprofit running organization that hosts the marathon annually—stepped up to fill that role. “If it wasn’t for those volunteers, I would never have finished,” Best said. “They offer you water, they offer you gels, but they just really walk with you and give you emotional support. It’s very, very challenging to finish a race when everyone else finished a long time ago.” A bad knee that started to act up around the halfway point made the 2024 race “probably the most difficult” of his 12 total New York City Marathons. But “nobody wants to spend a year training for a marathon and not finish,” he said. “So I did. It took forever, my body feels like garbage, but I’m good.”

Below, read more about a few of the latecomers who toughed it out through self-doubt, cramps, pain, and crushing fatigue to complete the 2024 New York City Marathon—and notch a rare achievement in the process.

Aiko Ogata, 81, and Pamela Ogata, 54, Burbank, California
Final time: 8:32:22 and 8:32:23

SELF: So you two are mother and daughter?

Pamela Ogata: We are. We started our running career with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training in 2009. I got her [motioning to Aiko Ogata] involved in running because it’s a great physical activity. It is a great way to combat depression [and shore up] social life and mental wellness as people age.

She started at the age of 65. She’s now 81. We do it for ourselves, but we do it for others as well. Every race we do, we pick a charity.

How many New York City Marathons have you done?

Pamela: This is our first. We went to Tokyo. She didn’t quite finish that, but that was exciting. But she’s done LA a couple of times; Alaska. What else have we done? San Diego, Walt Disney. I’m a Disney buff. I don’t even know what our first race was—

Aiko Ogata: San Francisco.

Pamela: Oh, it might have been San Francisco—the Nike Women’s [race], back in the day. And that particular marathon gave out Tiffany necklaces. Firemen handed them out. So of course, two women, we’re going to sign up for that.

Sounds like you two have traveled all around the world for races.

Pamela: It’s a way for us to bond. It’s a way for us to just have fun.

And for today, what was the toughest stretch of the course for you?

Pamela: There were a lot of undulations, and the bridges. Five bridges, I think, and they were tougher than the hills in Boston. It just was nonstop. It gives me a whole new perspective on race strategy. What was hard for you?

Aiko: The Queensboro Bridge. You had to do a lot of hill training, and it went on and on.

How does it feel, knowing that you completed your umpteenth marathon together and that the whole city is celebrating you?

Aiko: I really can’t believe it. I didn’t think that I should do it, but with her support I did it. Being 81 and running this type of course, it really takes a lot out of you. It takes a lot of mental and emotional strength to know that you have so many miles to go on this terrain. And so I’m just proud that I did finish.

Pamela: But we have to thank the whole of New York, all the boroughs. You guys really came out and supported us. I mean, to have people out there to the very end cheering you on is absolutely amazing. It made us feel so special. We would like to do it again.

Do you have any advice for people who are interested in getting into running marathons a little later in life?

Pamela: You know what, they said it to us on the course and we’ll tell you: Just put one foot in front of the other. It doesn’t matter how fast or how slow you go, just keep doing it—it’s the consistency. And enjoy it. Not every training day and not every race is going to be your best, but you’re going to have those really special moments like this where it makes it all worth it. You’re only racing against yourself. It’s a commitment to yourself, right? To say, “You know what? I’m going to take 30 to 45 minutes to do my three-mile run no matter what.”

Guillermo Rangel, 71, Monterrey, Mexico
Final time: 11:38:21

SELF: How are you feeling now that you just finished?

Guillermo Rangel: I’m doing great, but I twisted my ankle. I cannot run. I had to walk the last 13 miles, maybe. But this is my 41st marathon here, so I didn’t want to drop out or quit. I wanted to finish.

Do you think you have more in you after this one too?

[Nodding vigorously and grinning.] Yes.

What keeps you going? What helps you stay motivated when it’s physically tough?

Well, I enjoy it. Then, my situation of health. I feel [physically] great because I run. And then you also feel fulfillment because you achieve a lot of goals. Today, well, it’s a different experience because I [am] injured.

But you kept going!

I kept going. Do you run?

I don’t, actually. But it’s impressive seeing so many people run.

Little by little, little by little. Just put 10 minutes or whatever [into] walking and running [daily]. And little by little, you will feel how it is inside, the health and your spirit. You are very strong. I’m very grateful because it has a lot of benefits. I strongly recommend it to you.

Do you have any other advice for aspiring runners?

To look for different experiences. When you go to other places, it’s very interesting because you [get to] know the culture of other countries. I’m from Mexico, from Monterrey, Mexico, but I come every year here—

Specifically for the marathon?

Yes.

Wow, that’s amazing.

This is the best. I have been in Berlin, Vancouver, in Paris. But this one is different.

What makes this one the best?

People. The people. The organization and the city itself. This year, it was so many more people cheering [for] you. It’s beautiful.

James Giorgio, 33, Brooklyn, New York
Final time: 9:37:44

SELF: How are you doing right now after your finish?

James Giorgio: Emotionally, I’m riding a very, very high high. It’s great. Physically, I still feel pretty good. I’m surprised, actually. I think the adrenaline is playing a lot into how good my body’s feeling, because I’ve done half-marathons that were a lot harder and I know this is a harder course.

What motivated you to want to do the marathon? Is this your first? Your 30th?

This is my first marathon. What really pushed me to do it was my wife. She wanted to go running, and she started with runDisney down in Florida. She was practicing late nights, and I didn’t really like the idea of her being alone. So we started making it a group activity. We got to do it together, and learned to love it together. She finished a couple hours ago. She did really well, and I can’t wait to see her.

Do you think you’ll run more marathons going forward?

I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m back. It was fun. I am tempted to do it again.

Clare Sheedy, 23, New York, New York
Final time: 9:24:04

SELF: Physically and emotionally, how are you feeling right now?

Clare Sheedy: Emotionally, I am all over the place. I feel like everything that people say about the New York City Marathon being the best in the world absolutely stands. I don’t know if I would’ve finished if it weren’t for my boyfriend and all the random strangers who hopped in and gave me motivation or walked with me or gave me Biofreeze [pain-relieving gel] or a banana or water. I feel like my faith in humanity is restored a bit, which is really refreshing. Physically, I’m really tired and I am glad to be sitting down. It got to a point where I just couldn’t run anymore because I think the [lactic] acid all built up in my legs, so my knees and legs were feeling it for a good portion of the race.

In those moments, what kept you going and what kept you motivated?

I think remembering the big picture. Why did I sign up to do this? I fundraise for a charity called PAWS New York. And I think just remembering it was for such a bigger purpose than me that I was doing it.

But, also, remembering my mom has battled leukemia the past few years and thinking of her, thinking of everyone that’s suffering the consequences of war and just really kind of channeling all of that to finish today.

How long have you been running?

It’s my first marathon. I ran cross-country in high school and then kind of fell off for a while, started to pick it back up a little bit. I volunteer with PAWS New York, and they posted that they were looking for marathon runners. And so I was like, Okay, what the heck, maybe I’ll try it out.

Do you have any more marathons in your future? Or are you one and done?

I don’t know. I mean, I always say, “Give me a couple years to reevaluate.” My boyfriend walked with me the last four miles—I was just in such distress and I was not feeling good—and we were saying next year, we would absolutely love to be spectators, love to cheer everyone on, especially the way that those people that stayed later in the day did for me.

Do you two have any plans for after this, in terms of celebrating a little bit?

We’re going to go to P.J. Carney’s, which is our local bar and restaurant that we go to all the time. He ran a half-marathon in Central Park and a 10K in the spring, and so we made it a tradition to go there afterward.

He must have been a good source of support and advice as you were training for your first marathon.

It made it a lot easier. And I think, also, it bonded us a lot more because I understood a lot of what his training was more than I did before. And I think we were able to just kind of connect on a deeper level, which was really nice.

Josh Graves, 44, Seattle, Washington
Final time: 9:57:46

SELF: Of all the people I’ve talked to, you’re among the most alert and energetic still, so I’m so impressed.

Josh Graves: Yeah, I don’t know how I’m actually functioning still. [Laughs.] This is my fifth marathon. I have number six on December 1 in Seattle, and then seven is Eugene in April, and eight is San Francisco.

I did my fourth one two weeks ago, and that was tough. I spent a lot of time on the course by myself, and that was probably the first time I really had to push myself because I lost course support around mile 17.

What led you to start running in the first place, or getting into the marathons?

My wife. Somebody had mentioned to her that they didn’t think she could do a half, and it got her into it, and I’m like, “Yeah, I’ll do one half with you.” And then we finished and I saw it was half-price for the next year, so I did it again. Our first marathon was in 2022. And she was so excited to do this one this year.

What do you find rewarding about marathoning in general, as a physical feat or an emotional one, or both?

Graves: Both. It shows me I don’t give up. It’s really hard to do some of these runs, and when I’m out there at mile 20 and I just want to stop and say, “No, I’m done,” I’m showing myself what I can do. And at the end, that just makes it absolutely worth it. Once you finish, you have such a feeling of accomplishment, a rush of endorphins. It’s incredible.

What advice would you give to people who are trying to get into running?

I would say start small, like a 5K, 10K, or even a half marathon. Find one that doesn’t have a [time] cutoff and just go.

What makes the New York City Marathon worth flying across the country for?

Since my wife and I started running a few years ago, we’ve just started finding things that were a little more challenging each time. We like to find new areas to run, and it’s an incredible way to try new things. We’re here for a week, going through everywhere—from Staten Island through all the boroughs. We’re staying just right down from Times Square, so we’ve spent plenty of time there, but it’s also incredible to see everything.

And the course support here was amazing. Going through Brooklyn, everybody was just so excited. This city was incredible for a run. I loved it. I’ve never seen an atmosphere like this, and it was constant through the whole city, which is so impressive—for over 26 miles, to have that much support. Everybody’s been amazing.

These interviews have been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

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