The course is great, not too fast and not too slow.

She was skeptical of how she could attack a course without pace-changing hills, but the former winner of New Hampshire’s Manchester City Marathon did quite well. The marathon provided a good excuse to visit, Zopp said. Zopp’s best friend from college lives in Seaford. I just had to dig deep and I never looked back.' “I just stayed in my head, kept running my race and, in the last half mile, unfortunately, she started to fade a little. “In the last two miles, I could see, but she looked so far away,” said Zopp, a 38-year-old middle school science teacher. Zopp said the race was close until the final half mile, when she pulled away. On the women’s side, Jennifer Zopp of Westchester’s Goldens Bridge, won in 3:08:32.2. I needed something, so I just decided to go for a run.” Five turned into six, and then six turned into seven. “I started feeling super stressed and I just went for a run,” he said. “I’m always trying to get to a state of no mind.”ĭaniel, who was a soccer player in high school, took up distance running while trying to get into grad school, as a way to cope with the process’s maddening uncertainty. What I tell my athletes is ‘the best talk is no talk,” Daniel said. The roads, especially around Nassau Coliseum, can get pretty lonely when pacing as fast as Daniel was. Marathon running is as much about mental toughness as it is physical strength, and Daniel needed both as he chased victory and, nearly, history.įor Daniel, mental toughness means not thinking about any of the hurt that the body tends to go through during a race as grueling as the infamous 26.2. He needed to submit to his own teachings Sunday. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.ĭaniel, who was 25th at last November’s New York City Marathon in 2:24:27, works as a mental performance coach and is studying to be a psychologist at LIU-Post in Brookville.

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