After two years of COVID shutdown, the New York Road Runners (NYRR) Half Marathon is officially back. And it promises to be a top-class event. Celebs like former NFL player Tiki Barber, MTV Catfish host Nev Schulman, Good Morning America co-hosts Amy Robach and TJ Holmes, and ESPN sports announcer Nicole Briscoe will be attending her, as will former Miss Universe Andrea Meza first appearance attend the event. Olympic and Paralympic medalists Ben True and Susannah Scaroni will also be there, joining the largest group of professional athletes in the event’s history, including 23 Olympians, eight Paralympians and six Open Division athletes with national half-marathon records.
The event takes place on March 20th and begins in Brooklyn, near Prospect Park, before crossing the East River over the Manhattan Bridge. Once in Manhattan, runners run along the Lower East Side, up Midtown and through Times Square before ending in Central Park.
As this is such a special year for the half marathon, the field of celebrities and professional athletes will surely be in the spotlight.
What does it take for these public figures to perform at their best in the 13.1 mile race?
I recently caught up with ESPN sportscaster Nicole Briscoe; Paralympic athlete and dietician/nutritionist for the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Susannah Scaroni; Nev Schulman, host of MTV’s Catfish, and Ben True, American track and cross-country athlete and 2018 half marathon winner, to find out what they ate — and avoided — during the countdown to the event.
Nicole Briscoe, ESPN sports reporter
Nicole Briscoe, ESPN sports reporter
ESPN
Nicole Briscoe has been with ESPN since 2008 when she started as a NASCAR pre-race anchor before moving to SportsCenter in 2015. When she’s not working, Briscoe spends time with her family or racing with her husband, race car driver, Ryan Briscoe. The man and woman are both marathon enthusiasts.
“I love the challenge of a half marathon,” says Briscoe. “The distance isn’t as overwhelming as a full one, but it’s still tough, requires a plan and keeps me focused. I find that training is so much easier when there is a goal. Race day is a reward for all the hard work.”
Daphne Ewing Chow: As a mom with an active life, how hard is it to stick to a diet?
Nicole Briscoe: My diet is the hardest part for me to dial in and balance, but it makes a huge difference. When I eat right, my legs feel lighter, my breathing is better, and the overall workout feels easier. That means I’m a mother. I work odd hours. I travel. I’m not always the best at being strict about my diet.
Daphne Ewing Chow: What diet works for you and what’s your advice for making the right nutritional choices for optimal performance?
Nicole Briscoe: I find I’m best when I stick to whole foods and avoid sugar, wheat, and dairy. It also means abstaining from alcohol and wine. Finding the right one is a bit of trial and error. It’s also not a one-size-fits-all. I think the most important thing is to do what is right for you.
Susannah Scaroni, American Paralympic athlete
Susannah Scaroni, Paralympic athlete and dietician/nutritionist for the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee
Giancarlo Colombo/photo run
“I decided to attend the United Airlines NYC Half this year to celebrate my love for the sport,” said Susannah Scaroni, three-time Paralympic athlete and nutritionist/nutritionist for the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
At her third Paralympics in Tokyo last summer, Scaroni won her first gold medal in the 5,000 meters and also won bronze in the 800 meters. It ended a fantastic summer of road and track, which began with their third straight Mini 10K title in Central Park.
But in September 2021, less than a month after the Paralympics, Scaroni was hit by a car while training in Illinois, resulting in a fractured vertebra and causing her to be disqualified from competing and missing all fall marathons. The New York Road Runners (NYRR) half marathon will be her first race since the accident.
“It’s been an eventful year for me, and one thought that has popped up is that I’m grateful to be alive and to be a wheelchair user,” she says. “So I decide to come to New York for the first race after my injury to experience the joy of racing and to celebrate being alive.”
Daphne Ewing Chow: As a nutritionist/dietitian and professional athlete, how would you describe how your diet affects performance?
Susannah Scaroni: The amount and type of food I put into my body directly affects the amount of energy I have available for exercise, as well as how energetic I feel in relation to my perceived exertion at different exercise intensities. Together they give me the opportunity to push as hard as possible when I have to, which is a very important part of my performance. In addition, I love food because my diet provides me with the essential components that allow me to focus and avoid injury and illness.
Daphne Ewing Chow: How did you choose your special diet?
Susannah Scaroni: I choose to take a food-first approach to my eating habits for a number of reasons. The main reason is that when it comes to food, the sum is often greater than the parts. For example, drinking a glass of milk has been shown to affect skeletal muscle more than the same amount of protein from isolated whey powder. There is likely a lot of a food’s matrix that can benefit our energy supply and recovery, so I avoid supplements and try to get my diet from whole food sources as much as possible.
Nev Schulman, host of MTV’s Catfish
Nev Schulman, host of MTV’s Catfish (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for MTV)
Getty Images for MTV
“I love running! If I could, I’d sign up for a half marathon every weekend,” said Nev Schulman, host of the hit MTV show Catfish.
A 2:58 marathoner (faster than any other celebrity) who grew up in New York City at 66th place and Central Park West, right near the finish line of the New York City Marathon, Schulman literally kicks his Footsteps father who is also an avid runner.
Daphne Ewing Chow: What type of diet works best for you when preparing for a race?
New Schulman: To be honest, as a runner I didn’t spend a lot of time focusing on my diet. I try to eat well year-round, but most importantly, I stay away from anything that might upset my stomach a few days before a race — things like seafood (for obvious reasons) and anything too cheesy or greasy is.
Daphne Ewing Chow: Why haven’t you focused on your diet?
New Schulman: I know a lot of people who change their diets leading up to a race, but I find it’s safest for me to stick with what I’ve eaten throughout my workout and not change anything I’m going to diet and have the energy I need.
Ben True, American track and field athlete
Ben True, American track and field athlete (Photo by Brianna Soukup/Portland … [+]
Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
“Running in one of the New York Road Runner events is always a pleasure,” says American track and cross-country athlete Ben True, who became the first American to win the United Airlines NYC Half Marathon, completing the distance in 1:02 :39. It was his first time leading the event.
“One of my favorite running memories is turning onto 7th Ave during the 2018 NYC halftime and starting the Times Square Kids Run right next to the pro field and running our way toward Central Park,” he says. “The vibe and the people around NYC Half are what keep me coming back.”
Daphne Ewing Chow: How does your diet affect your performance as a professional athlete?
Ben True: Diet has a major impact on performance for everyone. You need to fuel your body so you can train, recover and compete at the highest level. If you don’t provide your body with enough nutrition, you won’t have the energy to train at a high level. If your diet doesn’t contain the necessary macro and micronutrients, you won’t be able to recover adequately between sessions. Without balancing a high level of training and recovery, you cannot be a professional athlete. Diet has a massive impact on performance.
Daphne Ewing Chow: Tell me about your diet.
Ben True: My diet is pretty simple: eat real food, eat what you like, and eat when you’re hungry. Nothing is completely taboo. There is no such thing as “bad” food (with the obvious exception of personal taste preferences). Instead, there are foods that have better nutritional value than others, foods that are less processed than others, and foods that are better for your body because they convert into fuel. It’s these “higher quality” foods that I strive to make the majority of my daily diet.
Otherwise, I only eat what I like.
Ben True shared this recent pic of his signature lunch: Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables and English … [+]
Ben True
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