Winnipeg runner with neurological condition 'feeling all the emotions' after finishing New York marathon

A Winnipegger living with a neurological condition that can make long runs risky says her first New York City Marathon was amazing, painful, overwhelming — and thankfully, fall-free.

"I'm just still feeling all the emotions," Carla Loeppky said. "It was incredible…. It was intense."

Loeppky crossed the finish line Sunday holding hands with her 21-year-old son Henry, who did the race with her as a guide — someone who runs along with a registered runner.

She raised money for Candace House, which supports and advocates for families who have lost someone to a homicide.

Aside from raising funds and completing the 42-kilometre (26-mile) race, one of the other big goals Loeppky accomplished was not taking a spill along the way.

She lives with spinocerebellar ataxia, a progressive neurological condition that affects part of the brain responsible for physical co-ordination and causes vision and balance issues for the 49-year-old.

"The falling I was able to get through, but the dizziness and double vision were kind of part of my run probably from about five miles [eight kilometres] in," Loeppky told CBC Information Radio host Marcy Markusa in a Monday morning interview.

What helped her get through the initial flood of nerves was overhearing a marathoner behind her early on say the day was all about gratitude.

"And that's exactly what I tried to hold onto, is just this feeling of my body might not be able to do this in a few years, but right now I think it can, and so I am going to be thankful for every moment," she said.

Loeppky said the exhaustion set-in mid-race. She expressed doubt to her son about whether she could finish.

"He said, 'Mom, you take those thoughts and you tell them to shut up,'" she recalled. "I said OK, new race plan: we're just going to plug away — walk, run, walk, run — and enjoy the whole thing."

Through a combination of running and walking, she finished in 19,198th place in the women's category with a time of six hours and 27 minutes. A total of 50,000 runners participated in the race, billed as the world's largest marathon.

Motivating runners of all sizes, abilities

Though it took her nearly an hour and a half longer than average in her category, Loeppky's determination to finish one way or another is a sentiment that is increasingly embraced by groups like Project Finish and Slow AF Run Club.

Martinus Evans founded the U.S.-based Slow AF Run Club and the blog 300 Pounds and Running, aiming to provide tips and encourage people of all body sizes and abilities to take up running and marathons "in the back of the pack."

"These races survive and thrive off of people who are in the back [of the group of runners], who either raise money to get there or spend their hard-earned money ... and I think those are the stories that are more relatable," Evans said.

Evans's foray into the sport started a decade ago. He noticed a lack of resources for plus-sized people wanting to run, but says that's starting to change as the conversation around inclusivity and body positivity grows.

A friend of Evans and member of the Slow AF Run Club, Latoya Snell finished the New York City Marathon in just under nine hours, after the official cut-off time. Evans thinks those stories should be highlighted. 

"There are tons of people who are theoretically on the proverbial couch who could ... see themselves in these stories and get motivated to then take on their own journey," he said.

"These individuals are determined and have the perseverance and run and finish the race in spite of the race taking down mile markers, or the race taking up water [stations].… These individuals are still doing it."

Final finishers 'really deserve a party'

Stephanie Pennington started the U.S-based Project Finish after running her first New York City Marathon in 2015. She circled back to the finish line hours later to see a slow trickle of runners arriving hours after the cut-off, to little fanfare.

"I thought, wow, this really needs to change because these runners, of all runners, have been out there for double, triple the amount of time … and they really deserve a party," she said. 

"I just knew there was this great opportunity to bring a party back to the final finishers that need that celebration after a lot of grit ... to keep going after the sweeper bus comes by."

The sweeper bus and marathon crew begin removing pylons, water stations and other race amenities after the official cut-off time of 7:25 p.m. ET. The first marathon runners begin at 8 a.m. ET.

After running the marathon herself on Sunday, Pennington stuck around until the final group of three runners — a woman in her 70s and two guides — crossed the finish line at about 11:30 p.m. ET, with a finish time of over 15 hours.

"It was awesome to see them," she said. "It's just about showing up."

Still recovering, Loeppky says it's hard to imagine running another marathon that matches the energy she felt during her first go around the Big Apple.

"I don't know if anything could top this," she said. "I don't know if I need to [run another]."