The Marathon Man

 

David G. Carlone - Randolph, New Jersey

Photo Credit:  Voices Center for Resilience

David G. Carlone, 46, from Randolph, New Jersey, in 1995 left his job working for a company in the World Trade Center to take a job with FM Global, which was fifteen minutes from his home in Morris County, New Jersey.  According to his wife, Beverly, he did so because the commute to/from work every day kept him away from her and the couple's three sons, Darrick, Nicholas, and Matthew, just as the boys were getting involved in playing sports and other after-school activities.  Their dad did not want to miss seeing them grow up.  So, he took a job that eliminated his commute and allowed him to be home more for them and be more involved in their day-to-day.   His boys were 17, 15, and 12 respectively when he was killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.  He coached them in baseball, football, basketball, and soccer. 

Although he no longer worked at the World Trade Center, his work took him back to them every now and again.  As fate would have it, on the morning of September 11, 2001, he was at the offices of Aon on the 105th floor of the South Tower when the murderous cowards who had hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 shortly after it had left Logan Airport that morning - bound for Los Angeles - flew it into the South Tower at 9:03 am.  

He and Beverly got married in 1980, roughly three years after their first date, on which he told her he was going to marry her.  She pointed out that his promise to her was not the only one he made and kept.  Training for his first marathon, he had promised her he would finish it in less than three hours.  He proposed to her the night before that first marathon but after slipping the ring onto her finger, he kissed her only on the cheek, telling her that he had trained hard and did not want to risk catching a cold the night before the race.  At age 46, he had completed twenty of them, all of which he completed in less than three hours.   

Photo Credit: www.tilvalhallaproject.com 

-AK