The number 1549 Patrick Harten will wear as he runs the Boston Marathon is no ordinary bib assignment: The air-traffic controller worked to save US Airways Flight 1549 before its Jan. 15 splashdown in the Hudson River.
“For me, it was more of a sentimental value,” Harten said at the Westbury, LI, radar facility. “For me, it’s a way to acknowledge my role in the miraculous events of that day.”
Race organizers don’t generally let runners pick their bib numbers for fear of opening the door to every hoofer with a lucky number; Harten got an exception.