13 Years After Marathon Debut in NYC, Kastor Aims High

Published by the TCS NYC Marathon on October 24, 2014

Just months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the 2001 New York City Marathon helped bring the city back to life, giving New Yorkers a day of much-needed joy, and serving as a powerful symbol of hope and resiliency.

It also launched the marathon career of a 28-year-old track and field champion named Deena Drossin (now Kastor).

“I remember how patriotic it was; it seemed to have a deeper meaning that day,” she said in a telephone interview last week, recalling how she got a lump in her throat when a Kenyan athlete began singing the national anthem next to her on the start line. “I remember it being a calculated race. It felt very easy the first 15, 16, 17 miles, then all of a sudden it got hard. It was the race that really hooked me on the sport.”

When Drossin crossed the finish in 2:26:59, the race took on yet-another meaning—it was a turning point in U.S. distance running: At the time, her finish was the fastest ever by an American woman in the race, the fastest debut marathon by an American woman in history, and the best marathon time by an American woman in nine years.

At the TCS New York City Marathon on November 2, the 41-year-old Deena Kastor is aiming to run 2:25—faster than she ran in her debut 13 years ago.

If she succeeds, she would shatter Colleen de Reuck’s U.S. master’s record of 2:28:40. She could even, on the right day, break the tape. When Kastor was reminded that the winning time of last year’s race was 2:25:07, she paused.