Amid the many highs that he has experienced in New York, Abdirahman has also coped with tragedy. At the 2007 U.S. Olympic marathon trials, which were staged in Central Park, Ryan Shay, his friend and training partner, collapsed and died of heart failure. Abdirahman, who learned about work ethic from Shay, said he had been thinking about him a great deal in recent days.
“I want to do something to honor Ryan,” Abdirahman said. “But it’s not something that needs to be public. Just something that only I know, something that I can have while I’m running so he’s with me.”
Even at this late stage of his career, Abdirahman does not dwell on his age, though others do. A few years ago, Tadesse Abraham, a world-class marathoner from Switzerland, told Abdirahman that he was considering retirement until he saw that Abdirahman was still capable of doing wild stuff like qualifying for the Olympics in his 40s.
Abraham, 40, will join Abdirahman on the start line on Sunday.
“Age is just a number as long as you don’t believe you’re old,” Abdirahman said.
One more story about Abdirahman: For years, he drove a GMC Denali, a hefty truck with chrome wheels. He loved that truck. One day, after going for a 24-mile run in the desert, he discovered that it had been stolen. So he phoned his insurance company and used the money to buy a BMW 535i.
Abdirahman has been driving that same sedan for about 10 years, putting more than 180,000 miles on the odometer. There are several metaphors at play here — about making the most of a difficult situation, about sticking with what works, about longevity and durability and persistence.
As for his own prospects on Sunday, Abdirahman is, of course, an optimist.
“I was talking to someone last night, and I said: ‘You know what? Even if I win the race, I will not be surprised,’” he said. “Because I know how hard I train, and how my preparation was. It’s just about giving yourself a chance.”