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On the Saturday before the race was to have occurred, Gitlin took off from his hotel and made his way to Central Park. He walked through the park and toward the spot where the race was supposed to have finished.
About the time Murat died, Gitlin started wearing a wristband with her name on it: Dr. Angie. He intended to wear it across the finish line, then bury it in the park.
It almost didn't happen, though, and not only because of the storm.
"I lost it," he said. "And then sometime around mid-September, my wife showed me this wristband that she thought was the one I was wearing -- she found it outside in the yard -- and the wristband said 'Dr. Angie.' It was really pretty strange. It was right at the time I had completed my first 20-mile run.
"So I put that wristband back on and I told Amy about it, and I thought it'd be a nice thing to maybe bury it in Central Park after the race."
Standing there near the finish line, he removed the wristband. He knelt down and buried it in a small hole.
He felt, if not complete, then more whole, at least. It felt good.
"For me, that was something I wanted to do, and I got to do that," he said. "And if they had had the race I would not have been able to do that, I would have had to sneak away somewhere in the middle of the park."
Said Hazlewood, "There's a word in Hebrew: mensch. And, I mean, he is like prime example of a mensch, because he does things for people all the time and wants no recognition. He's just a modest guy, so I think he'd just appreciate being recognized for going through all this."
Consider it done.
Staff writer Erin Blasko:
eblasko@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6187
About the time Murat died, Gitlin started wearing a wristband with her name on it: Dr. Angie. He intended to wear it across the finish line, then bury it in the park.
It almost didn't happen, though, and not only because of the storm.
"I lost it," he said. "And then sometime around mid-September, my wife showed me this wristband that she thought was the one I was wearing -- she found it outside in the yard -- and the wristband said 'Dr. Angie.' It was really pretty strange. It was right at the time I had completed my first 20-mile run.
"So I put that wristband back on and I told Amy about it, and I thought it'd be a nice thing to maybe bury it in Central Park after the race."
Standing there near the finish line, he removed the wristband. He knelt down and buried it in a small hole.
He felt, if not complete, then more whole, at least. It felt good.
"For me, that was something I wanted to do, and I got to do that," he said. "And if they had had the race I would not have been able to do that, I would have had to sneak away somewhere in the middle of the park."
Said Hazlewood, "There's a word in Hebrew: mensch. And, I mean, he is like prime example of a mensch, because he does things for people all the time and wants no recognition. He's just a modest guy, so I think he'd just appreciate being recognized for going through all this."
Consider it done.
Staff writer Erin Blasko:
eblasko@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6187