Thousands of runners stood on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, anxiously awaiting the starting cannon. The mayor of New York lit the fuse of the big gun. It was a National Guard trooper, mercifully holding the elusive cannon fodder. The shell was inserted, the fuse relit, and the race went off from there without a hitch. Bill Rodgers is in the lead as the route passes through a residential area, when a particularly vicious dog decides to try taking one of Bill s skinny legs home for lunch.
Bill darts to the side of the road to avoid the canine s chompers and grabs a rock from the gutter.
The other runners in contention just a few yards behind seize the moment and take the lead from the distracted and extremity-threatened Rodgers. The sounds of breaking glass, the epithet-spouting owner and the yowling dog send enough adrenaline through the terrified Rodgers that he s able to retake the lead, win the race, and set a course record. Those manning one of the aid stations along the course were doling out gobs of petroleum jelly to runners plagued by blisters or chafing. The only problem was that a bunch of Japanese runners grabbed their gobs and ate them, thinking it was some sort of sports nutrient. They did their best, but a lot of thirsty runners probably stayed that way as they passed that station.