FROM THE BIG APPLE TO ORANGE: The Silvester family, (from left) Matt, Oliver, Thomas, Lucy and Alison in New York last year for the New York Marathon, will be in Orange for the city's first 42.2km run later this month.
FROM the Big Apple to Orange, marathon man Matt Silvester says it doesn’t matter whether it is the biggest city in the world or country NSW, the next run he completes will mean the world.
Mr Silvester, from Castle Hill, will run in the inaugural City of Orange Running Festival marathon on February 24 after his attempt to complete the New York Marathon last November was brought to a halt by Hurricane Sandy.
The event, the largest marathon on the planet, was cancelled after Sandy hit, flooding downtown Manhattan and closing off large parts of New York in the lead up to the marathon.
After making the trip to New York with his family, wife Alison, sons Oliver and Thomas and daughter Lucy, Mr Silvester admits to feeling a little disappointed he couldn’t run the race for charity Pillars of Strength, which provides support for fathers after the death of a child.
The former London resident raised $4818 for the charity after his own son, Samuel, was stillborn.
But, come Sunday week, he’ll get his chance.
“Everyone said to me (after New York was cancelled) I didn’t need to worry about running, don’t worry about running... but I have to for my sponsors. So many people have supported me,” Mr Silvester said.
Looking for the next available marathon to run in the state to thank those who supported him in his endeavours to raise money, Mr Silvester stumbled across the inaugural Colour City Running Festival marathon.
“It’s worked out well,” he said.
“My wife is from Orange and my wife’s family is still in Orange.”
Mr Silvester will run for Pillars of Strength in the Orange marathon and could not be more excited about the opportunity to run in front of loved ones.
He was hopeful they would line the course to help emulate, albeit on a much smaller scale, the atmosphere of the New York event.
“One of the biggest differences will be the crowd,” he said.
“New York, there’s probably one, two million people lining the streets. There might be 100, 200 people in Orange. It helps to have people there to keep you going so I might try and spread out the family a bit.”
Silvester said he was hopeful of competing in the New York Marathon in 2013.
“I think I’ll have to go back after seeing the atmosphere last year.”
nick.mcgrath@fairfaxmedia.com.au