Eureka Runner Featured at NYC Marathon Sunday

Eureka resident Brad Kinnear will run his 17th marathon on Sunday at the ING New York City Marathon. His story will be featured on the race's Facebook page.

Kinnear is one six chosen participants — three men and three women — who were each given a video camera, which they are using to upload videos and photos to accompany their personal blog posts about training leading up to the world's largest marathon. The other five runners hail from Florida, West Virginia, Ohio and New York City (two of them).

Because Kinnear is a seasoned runner, he offered three tips to new marathon runners and watchers on the Facebook page: 

1. Make yourself visible.

Kinnear wrote his name on his race shirt in electrical tape, which "comes off easily after the race and doesn't damage your shirt," Kinnear said. That way, people will cheer that name as runners go by. "With an estimated 2 million spectators in New York, that is a lot of personalized motivation!"

Kinnear said he chose a brightly colored shirt "so my wife can see me coming."

2. Make your spectators visible.

Just as it's hard for Kinnear's fans to pick him out of the crowd of about 50,000 runners, Kinnear said it's hard to find his friends and family on the sidelines.

"In my first marathon, I ran past my parents three times," he said. 

Kinnear suggests coordinating the mile marker and side of the street one's fans will occupy, as well as making signs.

"My wife holds a yellow 'Road Runner Crossing' sign that I can see from several blocks away."

3. Make your spectators heard.

Noisemakers are the key to cheering at a marathon without hurting one's hands or voice. Kinnear suggests cowbells, whistles, clappers and maracas — "anything to give their hands and voices a rest every now and then."

Kinnear also blogs on his own about running, the Cardinals, and his ultimate goal: qualifying for the Boston Marathon. 

To follow Kinnear's story, "like" him on the ING Runner's Nation Facebook page.