Local resident running the TCS New York Marathon

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – A Zanesville resident is packing their bags and heading to New York.

Katie McNeil has been running since grade school. She teaches classes at the Muskingum Rec Center and works for United Way. On Sunday, November 4th, she will be running her 5th marathon. McNeil applied back in February and was then chosen to participate in the TCS New York Marathon, running 26.2 miles.

“This is a bucket list thing for me. I want to do the top three biggest marathons in the country an so this is the biggest one. There’s over 50,000 runners. The approximate finish time last year…the finish time, I should say, I think was right around 4 ½ hours. My goal is just to finish under 4 hours,” McNeil said.

There were running groups that formed through the Zanesville Half Marathon and this is how McNeil got her training in. She said Zanesville is filled with running and fitness enthusiasts who support one another.

“I would just tell them anybody could set a goal and you can start anywhere. You don’t have to be a class A athlete because I’m not,” McNeil said. “I just said “Hey, this is something I want to do. Before I turn 40 I want to hit all three of the major marathons in the United States,” but it doesn’t have to be that. It can be just riding a bike or going out and running three miles.”

She is excited to see the five boroughs of New York City and just have the opportunity to take the experience in. McNeil wants to encourage anyone in the community to come forward and share stories about their fitness journey.

Her last marathon was the Boston Marathon in 2017 and she says her next step will be the marathon in Chicago. If you would like to track McNeil throughout the run on Sunday you can go to the TCS New York Marathon website and follow the instructions on using the app. She will be starting at 10:15 a.m. Sunday morning and is a part of the Orange Wave Group.