I got to do a NY Times story on those who do not finish the marathon--the dreaded D.N.F.--including what caused them to come up short, and how they reacted to this grave setback.
It is a surprisingly low number of people that don't finish. Just 263 people out of almost 16,000 did not finish the Boston Marathon last month, while 380 out of over 25,000 did not finish New York. At other marathons, including Hartford and Rehoboth Beach, the numbers are a bit higher.
Paradoxically, it is the seasoned marathoners who are more likely to pull out early. “If they’re not going to win a race or place, they may stop and that’s it,” said Kathleen Titus, the race director of the Philadelphia Marathon. “They’ll save their legs for another race they can compete in and win prize money."
Several sources spoke of the despair they feel after pulling out--sitting on the curb, crying, not quite sure how they'll get home. “The first thing that comes through your mind is all the time you spent training,” said Maria Luisa Cesca, who once sustained a hamstring injury during the Jacksonville Marathon. “You were doing so well, so many mornings with 4:30 a.m. runs before the kids get up.”
Yet everyone I spoke to gave it another go, and finished.
