Broad, running near where she grew up, placed first among 301 runners in her age group at the event that had some 45,000 runners overall.
Ryan Hall, one of the country's top marathoners, and Barb Broad at the Marathon Expo.Barb Broad readied herself for the start of Sunday’s New York City Marathon, looked around and couldn’t help but remember.
But only for a moment. She had a grueling 26.2-mile course ahead of her.
“You’re thinking about your growing up there,” said Pepper Pike’s Broad, a 60-year-old grandmother and cancer survivor who won her age group at one of the world’s most storied races. “All of the good times. Yankee Stadium not far away. So much more.
“It’s a challenging but wonderful event. The energy picks you up. I did better than I thought I would, and I think it was because of that adrenaline.”
Broad was born in Brooklyn, and lived in Sheepshead Bay from ages 9 to 22. Her home there was about a 10-minute car drive from where the marathon starts, at the 4,260-foot long, double suspension Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that connects Staten Island and Brooklyn.
Broad finished her run in three hours, 19 minutes and 51 seconds, or 7:38 per mile, to claim first place among 301 female runners in her 60-64 age group. That’s a remarkable pace on a course that winds through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and into upper Manhattan to the rolling hills where it ends in Central Park.
More than 45,000 runners competed on the sunny day with temperatures in the 40s. A continuing debate is how many spectators the event draws. Objective estimates are that hundreds of thousands watch the runners at some point during the marathon.
There’s gospel singing from some in the crowd along the way, and every year, a high school band shows up to play the theme music from “Rocky.”
The atmosphere is inspiring, and so is Broad’s story.
Broad has run four New York City Marathons, the first in 1995. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2003.
“We took care of it and I couldn’t wait to get back to running,” she says. “I’ve been even healthier since then. Running is a big part of my life.”
Broad, who has also finished first in her age group at the Boston Marathon, is a speech-language pathologist at the Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities. She and her husband, Arthur, have two married daughters, a daughter in high school and three grandchildren.
Broad has in-laws living in Queens and her brother, Richard, lives in Brooklyn. She and Richard shared a pasta dinner the night before the marathon.
(Left to right) Local runners Jennifer Kuhel, Milena Sterio, Lita Laven and Maureen Glasper, along with Heather Weingart (not pictured) are all mothers and accomplished marathoners.There’s more “family” in Broad’s life: her teammates in the Southeast Running Club in Solon, and their coach, Glenn Andrews, a former standout sprinter at Kent State.
Running with Broad are Nicole Camp, Elizabeth Hansen, Susan Bohanski and M.J. Starr.
“We’re like family,” Broad says. “The funny thing is that Elizabeth, who’s 29, and Nicole, 25, have a combined age younger than me!
“We’re all very supportive of each other. We motivate each other. If somebody doesn’t have a good day, we lift each other up. I just love them.”
Broad’s teammates, all accomplished in their own right, didn’t run in New York.
Several others from the area did, however.
Katie McGregor, 33, of Willoughby South High School and the University of Michigan, finished 11th among all females with a time of 2:31.01. She clinched the 2010 USA Running Circuit championship, keyed by wins at 15K, 25K and 10-mile USA Championship road races.
Other women from the area who ran impressive NYC Marathons include Maureen Glasper, 38, Heather Weingart, 37, Milena Sterio, 33, and Jennifer Kuhel, 35 — all from Shaker Heights — and University Heights’ Lita Laven, 35.
All five are mothers, and all have qualified for next April’s Boston Marathon.