Last-Place Marathoner Offers Lesson on Winning

The story of The Tortoise and the Hare has taught generations of children a valuable lesson: slow and steady wins the race.

And I couldn't help but thinking about that classic Aesop's Fable when I read about Zoe Koplowitz, a 61-year-old woman with Multiple Sclerosis who crossed the New York City Marathon finish line with her purple painted crutches at 11:15 a.m. Monday, clocking in at 28 hours, 45 minutes. Dead last.

OK, maybe Koplowitz didn't win the race in the strictest sense (that prize went to Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu, who won the woman's marathon title Sunday in two hours, 28 minutes and 52 seconds), but even making it across the finish line at all seems like a true victory for this indomitable spirit. Plus, her time this weekend was a relative sprint in comparison to her 2000 marathon, which took her 36 hours and nine minutes to complete and set a world record for the longest marathon in the history of women's running. (Although can you really call it running at that speed?)

In fact, it seems that Koplowitz relishes "last place." She sweetly boasts on her Web site that she has completed 22 marathons, all in last place. She even titled her book The Winning Spirit - Life Lessons Learned In Last Place. Two years ago she told the Associated Press she didn't mind "running" more than a bit slower than her fellow marathoners. "The best part is you get to be both a spectator and a participant."

Koplowitz said she started marathon running two decades ago as a way to combat her daily struggles with diabetes and multiple sclerosis. She was diagnosed with MS more than 30 years ago, and on Monday Ruth Brenner, president of the NYC chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, presented Koplowitz with the medal given to all athletes who cross the marathon's finish line.

See, slow and steady really does win the race — just not always in the way you think.

Illustration courtesy of Ambrozja via stock.xchang.