Almost a year ago to the day, Tommy Rivers Puzey, a professional runner who has won or placed in big city marathons and other endurance events, learned to sit up in bed again.
Over the course of a few weeks, he trained his body to slowly swing his legs over the side of the bed. Eventually he was able to walk from one end of the room to the next, despite exhaustion from the effort lasting two to three days.
On Sunday, Puzey, 37, entered the New York City Marathon. He knew he would be far off his best time for such a race, but it didn’t matter.