A uniformed London bobby, a controversial European politician, two heroic Vietnam vets, a gutsy amputee from Los Angeles and an ageless 92-year-old granddad from Florida.
Meet some of the runners in Sunday’s New York City Marathon, shaping up to be the international event of the end-of-the-millennium.
“This Marathon more than any in the world is extremely diverse,” said Allan Steinfeld, director of the New York Road Runners Club, which organizes the Marathon. “One-third of our racers are from foreign countries, and another third are from the rest of the United States outside the metropolitan area.”
All 30,000 runners will take their marks on the Staten Island side of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge for the 10:50 a.m. start of the 26.2-mile event.
Though most will be outfitted with the traditional shorts and T-shirt, one runner will be attired in full London Metropolitan Police uniform.
David Finch, 33, a bobby with nine years on the force, arrives today for his third New York Marathon.
Dressed in helmet, shirt, trousers, night stick – and sneakers – Finch will run to raise more than $2,500 for a children’s charity called “Dreams Come True.”
The 6-foot, 210-pound bobby said he’s run in about 20 marathons, and aims to complete New York’s in about four hours.
Also winning a spot in the race was Austria’s controversial right-wing Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider, whose critics have blasted him for his anti-immigration stance. State Assemblyman Dov Hikind has led the criticism of the pol’s run in the race, whose route cuts through parts of the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn.
University of Southern California grad student Sarah Reinertsen, a 24-year-old whose left leg was amputated below the knee, will not only run the race – her fourth – but will serve as the WNBC-TV/Channel 4 on-course reporter at the event, officials said.
Another inspirational runner will be Sam Gadless, who will turn 93 a week after the Marathon.
Gadless, who lives in Florida, comes up to the Big Apple to run with his son and grandson from New Jersey.
“He’s quite a guy,” said Marathon spokeswoman Paula Turner. “For his 90th birthday, he got a tattoo.”
Vietnam vets Dennis Miller and Bruce Giacoma will be running as a team as well. Giacoma will serve as the guide for his fellow vet Miller, of Roxbury, N.J., who was seriously wounded in 1969 when his patrol triggered a booby trap.