It was an epic battle between a former fat man and a guy stuck in a hole for 63 days, but they both managed to accomplish a great feat in finishing a full marathon. Al Roker and Robin Quivers were not far behind as my vision for a Celebrity Marathon take shape.
Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia and Kenya's Edna Kiplagat were the winner's of Sunday's 2010 New York City Marathon, in the men's and women's divisions, respectively. But they were just two of the marathon-record 45,344 people who ran the 26.2 miles through the streets of New York City. And as is typical, Sunday's race was a star-studded field, with celebrities ranging from chefs to TV personalities to retired NFL players.
The most famous of all the runners -- or at least, the most newsworthy, and certainly the most popular -- was Edison Peña, one of the Chilean miners. With two-a-day runs through a 1,000-yard corridor in the humid mine as his training, Peña, suffering from an achy knee and sore feet, completed his first ever marathon in a time of 5:40:51.
Even though he had to walk most of the second half and spent time in a medical tent icing his knees, Peña did not make any excuses, telling the New York Times he's already excited about his next marathon: "First of all, I want to say that I would have run faster. And I did run faster in the mine ... I know I can improve my time."
Other celebrity finishers included NBC "Today" show's Al Roker, who finished his first marathon just a shade over seven hours (7:09:44), Robin Quivers from Howard Stern's radio show (6:09:15), Subway's Jared Fogle (5:13:28), Ehtan Zohn from "Survivor: Africa" (4:16:20), Ryan Sutter from "The Bachelorette" (3:20:39) and chef and restauranteur Bobby Flay (4:01:37).
Former pro tennis player Justin Gimelstob won a $10,000 bet with his friend Andy Roddick when he finished in under four hours, 45 minutes (he crossed the line in 4:09:58). Roddick will pay the money to the Justin Gimelstob Children's Fund for children with cancer and blood diseases.
Amani Toomer, the former NFL wide receiver who played 13 season with the New York Giants, finished in 4:13, beating the previous record for NFL players (Lynn Swann held the mark, at 4:26). He was officially the last person to start the race -- for every person he passed along the way, Timex donated $1 to the New York Road Runners youth service program. Toomer said he passed around 20,000 other runners.
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