When spectators shouted “Congratulations!” to Teresa Hui as she walked along the sidewalk wearing her race bib in the 2025 marathon, she had to clarify: “There’s no medal around my neck, so I’m still in it.”
asserted
I → shout → it
The 45-year-old actor and singer from Brighton Beach has completed 18 New York City Marathons since her 2006 debut.
asserted
actor → complete → debut
Over the years, the race, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year since expanding to five boroughs, became the emotional anchor of her autumn.
asserted
which → celebrate → autumn
But chronic pain from a cascade of physical conditions eventually reshaped her journey.
asserted
pain → reshape → journey
Today, Hui tackles the grueling 26.2-mile course with the aid of a cane, steadily bringing up the rear.
asserted
Hui → tackle → rear
Last year, she was the penultimate runner to cross the finish line.
asserted
she → cross → line
Hui reached Central Park just before midnight, roughly 15 hours after crossing the starting line on Staten Island.
asserted
Hui → reach → Island
The grandstands had thinned and most of the 50,000 entrants were already asleep, yet the tail end of the race held its own vibrant energy.
asserted
end → thin → energy
They’ve got their glow sticks, and there was a walking DJ,” she said.
asserted
she → get → sticks
“Your goal is never to be a final finisher… but anything can happen.”
asserted
anything → happen → ?
It’s in my DNA.
asserted
It → ’ → DNA
It’s what gives me joy,” Hui told The Post.
asserted
Hui → ’ → Post
Though not athletic as a child, she took up distance running in college, dropping her pace until she clocked a personal best of 4 hours and 34 minutes in 2011.
asserted
she → take → 2011
“And I was the kid who couldn’t go down half a block,” she marveled.
asserted
she → go → block
Then came a sequence of debilitating diagnoses, including fibromyalgia and severe osteoarthritis, which eroded her joints and nervous system.
asserted
which → come → joints
Her brisk pace slowed dramatically to roughly 20 minutes per mile.
asserted
pace → slow → mile
During her 2024 race alongside Achilles International—an organization supporting athletes with disabilities—she reached mile 10 or 11 just as crews began reopening streets to traffic.
asserted
crews → support → traffic
Rather than surrender to the sweep vans, Hui dug in.
asserted
Hui → surrender → vans
“Someone who had one leg was going faster than I was,” she recalled.
asserted
she → have → leg
“I started crying because I was so inspired.”
asserted
I → start → ?
She plans to return to the course this year, swapping her cane for forearm crutches.
asserted
She → plan → crutches
“I would love to finish before they turn off the official timing clocks at 10 p.m.,” she said.
asserted
she → love → p.m.
“But I will crawl, I will roll to that finish line — I don’t care.
asserted
I → crawl → line
I’ll do anything to finish.”
asserted
I → do → anything
New York native Danielle Grimley established three simple rules for the 2024 marathon: have fun, finish the race and don’t get hurt.
asserted
Grimley → establish → race
She managed two out of the three.
10 and a half hours after starting the race, Grimley ended the course dead last — and hobbling on a pair of crutches, managing a literal broken hip.
asserted
Grimley → manage → hip
The 43-year-old human resources executive, who now lives outside Boulder, Colorado, had been a casual runner before deciding to try her first marathon.
asserted
who → live → marathon
She resolved to do it in the greatest city in the world.
asserted
She → resolve → world
“It was New York or nothing for me,” Grimley told The Post.
asserted
Grimley → tell → Post
Even when Grimley was diagnosed with a cluster of autoimmune disorders during training, she refused to abandon the dream.
asserted
she → diagnose → dream
“I talked to a couple of doctors and they cleared me, but looking back, I think I overtrained.”
Trouble announced itself almost immediately.
asserted
Trouble → talk → itself
During the opening mile across the sweeping expanse of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, Grimley sensed her body breaking down.
asserted
body → sense → Bridge
Her labored, awkward pace bore no resemblance to the effortless rhythm of her shakeout run the day before.
asserted
pace → bear → run
A deep, persistent ache throbbed in her hip joint.
asserted
ache → throb → joint
She pressed through Brooklyn and Queens, but the pain sharpened into agony.
asserted
pain → press → agony
By the time Grimley reached mile 20 in the Bronx, she could no longer put any weight on her leg.
uncertain
she → reach → leg
She pulled into an aid tent seeking evaluation.
asserted
She → pull → evaluation
The medical personnel on duty gently informed her that her race was effectively over.
asserted
race → inform → her
Grimley had other plans.
asserted
Grimley → have → plans
She asked whether they had any crutches she could borrow.
uncertain
she → ask → crutches
…and 52 more, not listed.
The Aporia
