Brian Lair on WNYC, and yes, to end the show today, we are turning to the New York

City Marathon, 26 miles plus, first Sunday in November. Good probably for all of you who ran that it's the day

after you turn the clocks back so you were able to get an extra hour of sleep before having to

get out there early to the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Bridge. And we're inviting your calls.

212-433. WNYC, did you run to support a cause?

What kept you going through 26.2 miles?

Did you see a familiar face or a great sign that made you laugh?

Was it a song on your playlist or the sound of the crowd cheering you on?

Do you have a favorite part of the course? Anything you want to share about your experience running yesterday, give us call now

212-433, WNYC, 212-433-9-6-9-2, or you can text, as we are also joined by Nicholas Thompson, CEO of the Atlantic and a marathon

runner having run the New York City Marathon several times. In his new memoir, he writes about how

much his father inspired him to pick up the sport. The new book is called The Running Ground,

a father, a son,

and the simplest of sports. Nicholas, welcome back to WNYC. Hi there.

Oh, thank you so much. Delighted to be here. You wrote, I took up the sport to be like my father.

I kept going because he stopped. Tell us a little bit about that relationship.

Yeah, my father introduced me to running. He took me running when I was five or six years old.

And in fact, when I was seven years old, I came down to New York from my home in Boston and watched him run the New York Marathon and stood on First Avenue, just as they came off the Queensboro Bridge.

And it was a really important and beautiful moment for me.

And then, you know, my father's later life was very hard,

a lot of alcohol, a lot of disarray, a lot of chaos.

And I felt like he lost his discipline and one of the ways that I've tried to maintain mine is to

...