The Accidental Marathoner and The Saga of the Borrowed Sneakers

The true story of one enthusiastic NYC newcomer who got so caught up watching the city’s marathon that he spontaneously joined in and hustled all the way to the finish.

Illustrations by Rachel Dukes

In the fall of 1996, Adrian Garcia ran his first marathon — by accident. Lacing up a pair of borrowed sneakers, his only intention that November morning was to watch the New York City Marathon from the sidelines. Running was not his sport.

“I run in training for the soccer only,” he says. “I don’t like so much to run.”

Having made the perilous journey across the border from his native Mexico a week earlier, Adrian, forty-seven, was beginning a new life with family members in Borough Park, Brooklyn. His cousin, Lidia Garcia, forty-five, a feisty running enthusiast, encouraged him to join her in cheering on the marathoners as they wound their way through the borough.