---

On Sunday Asbury Park Municipal Attorney Fred Raffetto, a partner at Ansell, Grimm, & Aaron law firm, will run the 46th Annual TCS New York City Marathon.

This is Raffetto’s second time participating in the 26.2 mile race, having completed it his first run last year in celebration of his 50th birthday.

This time around, we asked Raffetto to reflect on the past and present run:

Sun: Tell us about your commitment to running a marathon.

Raffetto: Last year’s NYC Marathon was my first one. As you will recall from last year’s article, I ran that race to celebrate a milestone birthday.

I never thought I would ever run a marathon in my life. The fact that I am now running a second one would have been beyond my comprehension just a few years ago.

Running last year’s marathon was an absolutely amazing experience for me, and I knew I was hooked as soon as it ended. In fact, I signed up for this year’s Marathon only two days after completing the last one.

Sun: Can you talk a little bit about the experience?

Raffetto: It was a complete spectacle from start to finish. It is the biggest, and perhaps most well-known, marathon in the world. A large proportion of the runners are international.

The 26.2 mile journey starts at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, with helicopters swirling above and loudspeakers voicing announcements in every language under the sun. A canon blast starts the race, with the music of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” playing in the background as the runners make their way over the lengthy and steep Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BgqQbF-NAc&sns=em

The runners then head through approximately 13 miles of Brooklyn, weaving in and out of interesting, culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhoods, with spectators lining the route cheering. Brooklyn was my favorite part.

Sun: Why is that?

Raffetto: I felt the best there [given that it is relatively close to the beginning of the race] and the different neighborhoods and crowds are absolutely amazing.

Additionally, I have a personal connection to Brooklyn. That is where my maternal grandparents lived, and where my mother was born and raised.

Her father was a medical doctor who originally came from Italy, and her mother was a nurse who was of Irish heritage, but who came to America from Canada. They lived in a brownstone building near Prospect Park, where my grandfather maintained his medical practice on the first floor.

I thought of my mom, who passed away at the end of 2013,  and her family during the entire time that I was running through Brooklyn.

Sun: What was the rest of the race like ?

Raffetto: The next stop of the race takes the runners into Queens [Long Island City] for a short while, before crossing over the 59th Street Bridge into Manhattan. The 59th Street Bridge is the only eerily silent part of the entire race, as no spectators are allowed on the bridge during the race.

Coming down off of that bridge into Manhattan, the runners are greeted with a thunderous roar of greetings by spectators along First Avenue The long trip up First Avenue is lined with spectators cheering wildly, and ultimately brings the runners into the Bronx for a short while, before turning west and heading into an extremely charming area of Harlem and then south back into Manhattan along Fifth Avenue.

Then the runners enter Central Park and make their way to the finish line located at 67th Street, just east of Central Park West.  It is a long journey, but an incredibly amazing one.

Sun: Last year your ran in support of a charity, how much did you raise and wiill you be running on behalf of a charitable organization again?

Raffetto: My fundraising requirement was $2,620.00, representing $100 per mile of the 26.2 mile marathon.

Last year, I raised just shy of $7,000.00 for my chosen charity, which was “Team for Kids” (TFK).  TFK is a 501c(3) non-profit organization, which is part of the New York Road Runners’ Youth and Community Services Programs. The mission of the charity is to provide free or low-cost health, fitness, wellness, and character building programs to kids who would otherwise have little or no access to such activities.

Many of the kids who participate in the TFK programs attend the Marathon and cheer at designated locations along the course route.  Seeing the smiles and excitement on the kids’ faces makes this whole grueling experience worthwhile.  I was very proud to have greatly exceeded that requirement in 2015, on behalf of the kids…..

This year, I am once again running the Marathon for TFK.  As of this point, I have raised approximately $6,200.00, which again has exceeded my fundraising requirement.  I found that last year, donations continue to trickle in even after the marathon is over, so I am hopeful to be able to exceed last year’s amount and potentially top the $7,000.00 mark this year.

Sun: When did training began for this year’s run?

Raffetto: Training began in June.  It was a 5-month rigorous training program, during which I had to run varying distances 6 days per week. This year, I worked with a personal training coach, as I wanted to have a real person to whom I was accountable to stay on track and with whom I could personally interact.

Last year, I was working off an online training plan put together by TFK. Every weekend, there was a “long” run. As we entered the months of September and October, the distances of the “long” runs increased dramatically.

Sun: Do you have a personal goal, ie best time?

Raffetto: I finished the race last year in 4:22:00. I was very proud of that time, as the average finish time is 4:34:45. However, I was on track, based upon my time from the first 13.1 miles, to finish in 4 hours even. Unfortunately, the second half of the marathon is a real challenge, and I was slower during those miles.

So I feel as if my personal goal is to claim what I should have earned last year – and that is a finish time of approximately 4 hours even. That is my goal.

This year, however, I did have a few injuries during training involving knee and foot issues, which required me to stop running for almost two weeks in August — which is part of the prime training season.

There were points during that period when I questioned whether I would really be able to complete the race this year. But I did not want to let the kids [or my donors] down.

Fortunately, I seem to have recovered from those issues, but I have to be realistic with my expectations, as I’m not a “kid” myself anymore.  Regardless, just finishing the race – with whatever time – is an incredible achievement.

Sun: Is there anything I did not ask that you feel is important to include?

Raffetto: The only other thing that I would add is that one of my dear cousins on my mom’s side of the family gave me a gift recently of a gold medal that my maternal grandfather [the Italian doctor, whom I referenced earlier] earned from a race that he ran in NYC in 1912.

My grandfather was a runner too, so I take after him in that regard. The medal is light, and I intend to keep it in my pocket during this year’s marathon for good luck. When fatigue and pain set in, I hope that the thought of my mom and grandfather, both of whom were remarkably determined and courageous individuals, will help me push through.

Also, my dad, who passed away when I was only a teenager and who was my Little League baseball coach, used to encourage me to “be aggressive!”  Well, running this race is about as aggressive and ambitious as one can get!

————————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---