Rob Bennett for The New York Times

Nadine McNeil will compete in her fourth marathon, but it will be the first for her 18-year-old son, Tyler, who is autistic.

Nadine McNeil will reach the crest of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on her handcycle soon after 7:30 Sunday morning. Moments later, she will roll swiftly past her 18-year-old son, Tyler, who is autistic. This will be her fourth marathon, and Tyler’s first. She has grown uneasy this week thinking of the moment when she will leave him behind.

“I can’t look back,” she said. “For 18 years, I’ve always known every moment where Tyler is. On Sunday, I won’t.”

Though joint parent-child appearances in the New York City Marathon are not uncommon — Rod Dixon, the race’s 1983 champion, is returning this year to run the race with his daughter — the path that brought Nadine, 42, and Tyler to the marathon is an unlikely one. Nadine had a stroke when she was 8 and lost the use of her right arm and her right leg. Tyler, her only child, is severely speech-delayed. Even now at 6 feet 4 inches, he communicates verbally by using one or two words at a time. Read more..

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City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera fives some spectators as he runs the 2007 ING New York City Marathon.

Bronx residents - get ready to be in the zone.

New “cheer zones” along this Sunday’s route of the ING New York City Marathon will let spectators represent their boroughs as they cheer runners from around the world.

Bronx politicians and community leaders will join local residents in the borough’s zone at Graham Triangle, between 138th and 137th Sts. and Third and Lincoln Aves.

The route will bring runners into the Bronx across the Willis Ave. Bridge and back into Manhattan on the Third Ave. Bridge.

State Sen. Jose Serrano and City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera, both former marathon participants, will be there. Read more..

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Eugene Lynch Never Forgets Heroes Who Defend Country

Bronx firefighter Eugene Lynch traveled more than 200 miles with 1,000 T-shirts in hand to watch the Super Bowl with a very special group of sports fans.

Lynch brought a group of firefighters and actor Jon Voight to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to root for the Giants and greet wounded veterans. It was all part of the 53-year-old Lynch’s desire to serve vets from the war in Iraq and their families through his Never Forget Foundation.

The foundation, started a year ago, has also raised money from a dozen firehouses to bring five veterans and their families for a packed sightseeing trip to New York, helped create a motorcade to lead a team of wounded wheelchair riders to the New York City Marathon, and provided tickets for veterans to attend Fire Department hockey games.

Lynch is already cooking up ideas for a party when New York’s Fighting 69th National Guard regiment returns from Afghanistan in about a year.

“This is a war no one wants. These kids are getting wounded and killed and we need to be there for them,” said the 25-year FDNY veteran assigned to Engine 38 in Williamsbridge.

Lynch, who worked in the 9/11 rescue efforts and helped clean up after Hurricane Katrina, said he feels a great bond between veterans and firefighters.

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