NBC’s ‘Today’ Show Profiles the NYC Marathon’s Final Finisher
Last is never a loss, as this runner shows.
Sala Cyril finished 49,466th place at the New York City Marathon earlier this month—the last official finisher in a time of 8 hours, 28 minutes and 24 seconds.
“It did not bother me at all to be last, I was actually excited. It was a distinction…I said I finished, how many people were able to do that? Last was never a loss,” Cyril told Today.com.
RELATED: Watch Nike’s Inspiring Tribute To Back-of-the-Pack Joggers
Over the weekend, Cyril was one of four people profiled by NBC’s Today show for a feel-good feature about overcoming a so-called “losing” effort (though few in the running community would look at Cyril’s finish that way). Along with Cyril, Today featured an NFL kicker who was the last pick in the NFL Draft, a politician who’s lost 14 elections and a beauty pageant who overcame multiple runner-up finishes.
Cyril’s message? “You choose what your win will be.”
Here’s the video: