Audrey Newcomb is about to tackle a long-sought, three-part bucket list goal – qualifying for, competing in and finishing the famed New York City Marathon, the largest marathon found anywhere in the world.

“I figure, go big or go home,” Newcomb said with a chuckle.

A familiar face at Freeman Hospital West, Newcomb serves as a clinical pharmacist. Away from the hospital, however, she’s an avid runner, often competing in local and regional running events.

But the New York City Marathon – with 50,000 runners and 2 million spectators lining the streets – is a completely different animal.

“The whole thing is really emotional – are going to get in, where are you going to stay, how do you get to the start line, can I put in all these training miles, can I really finish the race,” she said.

Newcomb departs Joplin for the Big Apple on Friday, with the race launching on Sunday, November 3.

“This is a huge bucket list item for me; I’ve never done a full marathon like this one before,” she continued. “I’m nervous about it, but I’m also super excited. It’s all coming together. I’m really going to do this!”

Qualifying for the race

There are two ways a runner can qualify for the New York City Marathon – either as a professional runner or as a representative of a well-known charity.

“I’m not a fast runner,” Newcomb said. I knew I wouldn’t have a qualifying finisher time, so I knew immediately that I had to find an open charity spot.”

Unfortunately, every charity recognized by race officials has a finite number of openings, so competition for those spots – among tens of thousands of hopefuls from around the world – is understandably fierce.

Thankfully, Newcomb already had a specific charity in mind – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“St. Jude is what I wanted to do the entire time because my niece, who is now age 4, started going St. Jude when she was age 2 because she has chronic neutropenia, or low white blood cell count, and they’ve had an excellent experience,” she said. “St. Jude never charges a family a single dime, and they’re a wonderful resource and charity group.”

On a Friday morning back in early April, Newcomb was at her computer hoping to register for a St. Jude charitable slot. When the applications were open to the public, she began hammering away at the keyboard.

“You click, nothing. You click, nothing. You click, nothing. And then BOOM, suddenly I was in,” Newcomb said. “So there I am, frantically filling out everything on the application form, and because you’ve been kicked out so many times you’re thinking, ‘Did I do it? Did I get in?’”

The next day the confirmation email came through, congratulating her on registration into the 2024 New York Marathon as a charitable runner for St. Jude.

“That’s when it finally dawned on me that I’d just gotten in,” she said.

Even better, her sister-in-law, her niece’s mother, was also able to come aboard as a runner through a different charity.

“It all fell into place,” Newcomb continued, “but it was an emotional rollercoaster because you have to apply for the actual race and then you have to apply for a charity in the hopes that you get in and then once you get in the race it’s like – ‘Oh shoot, now I actually have to start training!’”

Training ramps up

Newcomb had already been training hard for the Joplin Memorial half-marathon when she received the congratulations notification.

“After the Joplin half-marathon, I took a couple weeks off, and then I started back up with three miles a day, three or four times a week,” Newcomb said. “On weekends in June, I started ramping up my long runs, starting at six miles on a Saturday. In leaps and bounds it increased, and I did 14 miles during the Fourth of July weekend.”

As she increased the intensity of her runs each week, Newcomb also factored her optimal proper liquid and electrolyte intake. Throughout July, she also incorporated weight training into her regimen to build muscle and sustain her longer runs.

“I’ve always been a quiet runner, mostly running by myself,” she said. “I like to listen to the birds and the insects and my thoughts and the wind and the sound of my feet on the gravel. I also really like to pray and chat with God – it’s definitely a spiritual experience for me. However, if I have someone to run with, I will talk your leg off!”
But as she ramped up her runs from 14 miles to the standard marathon length of 26.2 miles, “I really needed something else to distract me. That’s when I got into audiobooks. I listen to music, but I mostly like to listen to audio books or run in silence.”

Newcomb kicks off her usual route in her neighborhood before jumping onto the Frisco Trail, which takes her north into Webb City. There, she circles the high school a couple of times before heading back home.

“Part of my training through July was about dealing with the emotions of it all,” Newcomb said. “I was just keeping my mindset solid. It’s hard to stay dedicated to spending so much time running, and when your body starts to complain, it’s easy to think about quitting. But that’s when you have to push through.”

She attempted her first full marathon on September 28, participating in and completing the Tulsa Urban Adventure Run. Because she and her running partners got lost at one point – which is easy to do as there are no markings along the way and you have to follow a map in hand – Newcomb ended up running 26.6 miles.

“That’s when I knew I could this,” she said.

Visiting the Big Apple

Less than a week remains until Newcomb’s big marathon moment. She’ll fly to America’s largest city on Friday and, early Sunday morning, she’ll make her way by bus, ferry and train to the Starting Point Village on Staten Island. Armed with salt tablets and endurance gels, she’ll be among the fifth of five huge waves of runners who leave the starting line at staggered intervals and make their way across the iconic Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

Moving northward, Newcomb and tens of thousands of runners will leave Staten Island behind and make their way through four other famous New York boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Manhattan. The Pulaski Bridge in Brooklyn marks the race’s halfway point, while the Tavern on the Green in Central Park serves as the finish line.

“I just have a ton of excitement right now,” Newcomb said. “I’ve been twice to New York City. But the first two times were ‘vacation-y,’ while this third time feels different, like I’m on a mission.”

Newcomb’s anticipated finish time is five hours, though a more realistic time may be 5.5 hours, which is similar to what she ran in the Tulsa marathon. The race’s overall time limit is 8.5 hours.

“I’ve read somewhere that running a marathon is a half-percent nutrition, a half-percent hydration and 99 percent determination, and I believe that,” she said. “I’ve always loved running. Running for me is easy because you just need a pair of shoes and then you just go for it. You don’t need a bunch of equipment or instructions. You just head out and decide what direction you want to go.”

The race will be televised nationally on ESPN2. Additionally, ABC will nationally air a live, two-hour show from the finish line from 3:00 to 5:00 pm EST.

“During the Tulsa run, one of the things I wasn’t expecting to happen was how emotional I got when I crossed the finish line,” Newcomb said. “With this being the New York City Marathon, the largest in the world, and such a big crowd, I think it’s going to be just emotionally overwhelming that I actually accomplished this.”

Overall, Newcomb “very excited and a bit nervous. It's a huge race with so many people! I’m more confident than I was when I started this journey. I've put in the work and have made it so much farther than I thought I would. Now I just have to go enjoy it!”