2011 New York Marathon: Did Apollo Ohno and Other Celebrities Finish the Race?

Apollo Ohno flashed his determination by finishing a marathon for a good cause. He was one of a handful of celebrities that ran 26.2 miles on Sunday while raising money for various charities.

Ohno finished in a very respectable three hours, 25 minutes, 14 seconds.

By finishing in less than four hours, Subway donated $26,000 to the Special Olympics.

A marathon was quite the switch for an athlete trained to sprint on ice in 90 second bursts.

Here is Ohno on the subject, as quoted in the Washington Post:

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"I went from short, balistic-type 1½ minute training to something that last 3 hours, 24 minutes longer,” said the most decorated Winter Olympian with eight medals. “The last 6.2 miles are gruesome, my body isn’t designed for this."

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The $26,000 Ohno raised by finishing under four hours is impressive, but it has nothing on what softballer Jennie Finch accomplished.

Jennie Finch

At first glance, her sponsor Timex appeared to be going a little cheap on their pledge for charity donations. They offered $1 for every runner Finch passed.

How much could that possibly amount to? After all, it's not like Finch could have participated in a long training regimen for this marathon. She just had her second child in June.

Well, Timex will be donating approximately $30,000 after Finch, who started last, finished in four hours, five minutes, 26 seconds.

Finch had this to say, and was quoted in the above linked article, after the race: “The energy on the streets is amazing. So many people running with so many different causes.”

Other Notable Celebrity Finishers

Former New York Ranger great Mark Messier finished in four hours, 14 minutes, 21 seconds. He ran ran for two charities for the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11: Tomorrow’s Children’s Fund and Answer the Call.

Model Christy Turlington Burns ran for Every Mother Counts and finished in 4:20:47.

Restaurateur Joe Bastianich ran for Grana Padano and finished in 3:47:03.

Curt Schilling's wife, Shonda Schilling, ran for Autism Speaks and finished in 4:58:50.

Kudos to all these people who took on this daunting task for a good cause.