Runners World, reports that while Jonathan Mendes might not have completed the Marathon, or be the oldest finisher, or hear the roar of the crowds in Central Park, he has no regrets. After the 16th mile, “I quit because I started getting some pain in my legs,” Mendes told Runner’s World the day after the race. “I called a cab home, had a double scotch, took a shower, and went to sleep.”
For more than five hours on November 1, Mendes and two guides traversed the NYC Marathon course until they reached First Avenue in Manhattan, just off the Queensboro Bridge. Mendes made it more than 16 miles. He said he does not regret quitting before the last 10.
Though he has completed 14 of them, including 12 in New York City and two at the Marine Corps Marathon—where he was the oldest finisher in 2011—Mendes’ running career is an asterisk on a long resume. In the meantime, he said he will stick with his daily routine. The day after the marathon, he didn’t skip his daily loop in Central Park. To learn more about him and to read the article in its entirety, click here.