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Last place is usually not a cause for celebration. But for Joel Kaufman, finishing last in the New York City Marathon on Sunday was “one of the greatest moments” of his life.
By completing the race in 8 hours, 43 minutes and 34 seconds, Kaufman became the final official finisher of the 26.2-mile race. His place among runners: 51,258. (More than 100 other wheelchair and handbike participants also took part.)
Final destination The 65-year-old Queens resident wasn’t expecting this and didn’t know he had made it when he crossed the finish line in Central Park with his arms raised at around 8:17 p.m. But on Monday, an official from the New York Road Runners, which organizes the New York City Marathon, called Kaufman and told him he was the last person to officially cross the finish line.
“I loved every second of it,” Kaufman said of the race. “It wouldn’t have mattered if I was last or a thousand people faster.”
The challenge of determining the last place
The New York City Marathon officially ends about 8.5 hours after the last wave of runners cross the starting line around 11:30 a.m. That means any competitor who crossed the finish line by 8 p.m., give or take several minutes, was still considered an official finisher, race director Ted Metellus said.
The cutoff time is set so that city officials have a general schedule of when runners and race personnel will be on the course, he explained. “After a period of time, assets and resources begin to consolidate,” Metellus said. “We’re starting to scale things down.”
During this year’s race, the timing team contacted Metellus just before 8:15 p.m. so he could identify the last official finisher. Kaufman happened to be the next runner to cross the finish line, finishing the race at a pace of 19:59 per mile. There was a small but loud crowd waiting for him, cheering him on.
Kaufman, a retired former high school math teacher, took his time taking it all in. “The party atmosphere was incredible,” he said. “I had my arms up. I was a superhero.”
But determining last place can be complicated. Some official finishers actually ran slower than Kaufman but finished earlier because they started the race earlier. And while Kaufman will remain the last official finisher, his 51,258 place could shift as race organizers review race results.
And then there are the stragglers – the people who kept running even after the race was over. More than 40 runners reached the finish line after Kaufman. Their times are listed under “Special Results Categories” on the New York City Marathon website.
The last unofficial finisher may be 50-year-old Francine Silver of Rahway, New Jersey, who didn’t reach the finish line until 11:11 p.m
“I was a little embarrassed at first, but there was so much support,” she said. “If you have to be a back of the packer anyway, why not be an icon and finish last?”
Kaufman knew he would be at the back of the field, but his finishing time was slower than expected. For Sunday’s race, Kaufman expected to be on the course for seven hours, using the “walk-walk” method: two minutes of fast walking, alternating with one minute of slow walking.
But around the 11th mile, he got blisters on his foot. That’s when Kaufman said he noticed a runner who appeared to be having trouble. He told her that they would both reach the finish line. It motivated him to keep going, Kaufman said.
Kaufman has completed 10 marathons, including six in New York City, which he completed to raise money for Team in Training, a charity that supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He said he first ran the race in 2015 to honor one of his friends who had been diagnosed with leukemia, and that he has since raised about $100,000 with Team in Training.
Kaufman said the experience was “a blessing.” He appreciated that the spectators were waiting and cheering for top runners like him. He advises other runners to feel the energy of the crowd and recognize the people who come out to support you along the course.
“I don’t care how fast you’re going, you stop, hug them, take a picture with them, because that’s what you’re going to remember in 10 years,” he said.
correction
An earlier version of this article misspelled Francine Silver’s last name. The story has been corrected.
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