Think back to the fall of 1976. You may remember exactly where you were that Bicentennial year, and who was beside you.
Dave Obelkevich was in New York City that fall, running through all five boroughs.
That was the year the New York City Marathon left the loops of Central Park for the first time, in honor of the Bicentennial. Obelkevich finished 690th of 1,539, in 3 hours and 22 minutes.
He has finished every five-borough edition since. Nobody else can say that. On November 1, at age 83, he did it again, in the race that marked 50 years of the five-borough course.
How Does a Streak Like This Begin?
He was never the fast one. Obelkevich joined his high school track team as a senior in Johnson City, New York. He told Men’s Health that he usually finished second to last. His coach gave him a 10-second head start, and the others caught him anyway.
He moved to New York City in 1961 for college. He went on to teach music in the city’s high schools for 27 years, and he has played the violin since third grade.
In 1973, he came across the marathon in Central Park, where runners then circled the park in laps. He signed up the following year and finished. In 1975, he felt dizzy, stopped with four or five miles to go and took a ride to the finish line.
It is the only New York City Marathon he has started and not completed. Then came 1976.
What Nearly Stopped Him?
Plenty. His fastest New York City Marathon came in 1982, in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 34 seconds. The harder years came later.
In 1997, he broke ribs in a cycling accident in the weeks before the race. He ran anyway.
In 2010, he reached the start on Staten Island and found one running shoe in his bag. Columbia College Today reported that his wife, Lyn, met him near Prospect Park, around mile eight, with the other. He had an answer ready for spectators: “It’s the latest running style.”
About 25 years ago, the streak nearly ended before the starting line. His entry was turned down. Lyn wrote to New York Road Runners, the race’s organizer, and explained what was at stake. He got his place, and soon afterward the organizers began guaranteeing entry to anyone with 15 or more finishes.
What Keeps Him Going?
Somewhere in his late 60s, the goal changed. He stopped chasing a time and started aiming for the finish line.
“Some use a stopwatch. I use a calendar,” he said.
This year, the plan was to walk most of the course, with his stepdaughter, Maria Finch, as his guide. Other people walk too, he points out. “Anyone can start it, but it takes a good person to finish,” he told CBS New York.
He was one of a reported 61,146 finishers, a long way from the 1,539 of 1976.
The race has also given him his people. He met Lyn in Central Park in 1984. His advice to newer runners is to find someone going about your speed and start a conversation.
“A November without the race is inconceivable,” he said.
Sound familiar? Most of us have something we keep showing up for, long after anyone is keeping score.
On race day, he wears a shirt a friend made for him years ago. It names the year the streak began, 1976, followed by a dash and a few question marks.
He does not know what year belongs there. You do not need to know yours either. A calendar will do, and so will someone going your speed.
