STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Getting up before the crack of dawn has never been a problem for Lois Schwartz — especially if it’s to volunteer for the New York City Marathon on the first Sunday of November.
She laces up her blue Cloudmonster sneakers, layers up with leggings, jeans and a thermal top, and heads to Fort Wadsworth at 2 a.m. – a good three hours before her assigned arrival time and before the sun even considers coming up.
For the next 10 hours in rain, snow, sleet or sun, she distributes supplies, directs volunteers and welcomes as many of the 55,000 runners as possible as they arrive in waves for the start of the race.
“It’s the camaraderie” that has lured her back as a marathon volunteer year after year for nearly four decades, Lois says. “And the excitement – it’s the only time in the 26-mile race when the runners are all together, and on our soil.”
The retired educator who turns 80 this summer never needs a reason to pitch in. Just ask folks at the Jewish Community Center, the Brandeis National Committee, the Unity Games and the Beatrice Victor Senior Olympics, where she always shows up with a smile.
“Lois is an exceptional volunteer,” says Mary Haskins, longtime director of volunteer operations for the New York Road Runners, which hosts the marathon. “She leads by example and her professionalism is contagious. But most of all, she is an exceptionally kind and loving person who cares so much for her community.”…