Tusculum Tennis Player Run in NYC Marathon

NEW YORK --- It has been a busy first semester for Tusculum College men’s tennis player Sam Groeneveld.  Not only has he been going through the normal adjustments that incoming freshman make when starting college, but Sam was also preparing for a special event that he and his father would embark upon later in the fall.

On November 7, 2010, the Groenevelds got an opportunity to experience what many people would have on their personal “Bucket Lists”… to run in the New York City Marathon.

Sam and his father Max, both natives of The Netherlands, decided two months prior to the event to travel to New York City and run in the 26.2 mile race, along with nearly 45,000 other runners through New York’s five boroughs (Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island).

For Sam, this would be the furthest he has ever run, while his father was competing in his second marathon.

“This was something my father and I had talked about, but it wasn’t until a couple of months prior to the race that we decided to enter the marathon,” said Groeneveld.  “It is a lifetime experience that I will never forget.”

One of his goals was to finish the marathon and finish he did.  Sam finished the race in four hours and 23 minutes, not bad for a runner whose only previous running race experience was at the half marathon in his native Amsterdam.  In the NYC Marathon, Sam finished 54th overall for his age group (18-19) and 17,325th overall in the men’s race.

“One of my most vivid memories was the all the people cheering us on as we ran by,” added Groeneveld.  “There were people everywhere and their encouragement kept me going.”

Gebregziabher Gebremariam of Ethiopia, in his first ever marathon, won the race after breaking ahead of his last rival, Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya, in the 25th mile to finish alone with a time of two hours, eight minutes and 14 seconds.  Edna Kiplagat won the women's title with a time of 2:28:20, ahead of American Shalane Flanagan.

Sam is entering his first season on the Tusculum tennis team for head coach Tommy Arnett, where he posted a 1-1 record in the fall at No. 5 singles and No. 3 doubles.  Groeneveld is majoring in Mathematics and Computer Science at Tusculum.