Bergen Man Running In 20th NYC Marathon

WYCKOFF, NJ — You may have seen Jerry Ghinelli running around town. He is an avid runner who will appear in his 20th New York City Marathon Sunday.

Ghinelli began long-distance running in 1995 when he was 45.

"It'll probably be my last one, but I've said that every year," Ghinelli said with a slight laugh.

NYC Marathon runners begin in the race in four waves, with the fastest runners going first.

This NYC Marathon has a little extra meaning for him as he will start it with the first group, the fastest runners, for the first time. Normally, he is in the back with most of the other 50,000 participants.

"It's a lot of fun. With other sporting events, I'm a spectator, but with this I'm a participant," Ghinelli said.

And to be a participant takes a long time. Ghinelli said he will get up at about 5 a.m. and, in previous years, might not get to the starting line until four hours later. Then he would have had to stand there for more than an hour until his group could start.

Ghinelli hopes to run the marathon in about 5 hours and 20 minutes, an hour more than his fastest time, which he recorded in 1995.

"I used to be obsessed with my time, now I'll just be happy if I could finish in one piece," Ghinelli said.

Although the marathon is fun, Ghinelli finds the training the most challenging.

"Those 16- 18- and 20-mile training runs, those take a lot of time," Ghinelli said, but noted that it is relaxing too.

"There's a solitude to it," Ghinelli said. "Its peaceful. You almost get into a trance. There's time to think about different things."

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Photo: Jerry Ghinelli running in the 2016 New York City Marathon/Courtesy of Jerry Ghinelli