NYC MARATHON | Brooklyn man who survived addiction and heart surgery to run NYC Marathon at 72

During the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and ‘90s, Sal Raffucci had just left college and plunged himself into drugs.

“I got hooked on it, and I destroyed my life,” Raffucci, a 72 year-old from Fort Greene, said. “I left college and I left everything — so it was like a recipe for death.”

He had “just made it” to the 2000s and in 2005 managed to quit cold turkey. Raffucci said he had help from God.

“I was crying in my apartment and I hit the table,” Raffucci, who was 51 at the time, said. “I said, ‘God, I’m going to do something with my life. At least I did one percent, God help me out with the other 99,’ and it was hard what I did. After six months, one year, two years, I started seeing the benefits of being clean.”

Now on his sobriety journey, Raffucci began walking 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day — a routine he kept up for the next 15 years. During one stretch of that decade and a half, he was averaging 40,000 or more steps a day.

“I started not taking the train, not taking taxis,” Raffucci said. “I started walking from Brooklyn to Queens, Brooklyn to Ridgewood. It made me discover something in my persona that there is more for a human being to do to not be so lazy and just believe in yourself.”

Last year, Raffucci completed the 2024 New York City Marathon, produced by nonprofit New York Road Runners, adding to a growing list of races that includes two Bronx 10-milers, three half-marathons, the Brooklyn Marathon and the Staten Island Marathon. He accomplished all this with support from the New York Road Runners — despite beginning his marathon training only in September, just two months before the NYC Marathon.

He plans to run his hometown marathon again this year. But three years ago, his running journey was put on hold.

On Oct. 22, 2022, Raffucci had to be intervened due to problems with his heart. He needed cardiac ablation and felt depressed because he could no longer run or walk, the thing he has most loved since he was sober.

“Running is a free medicine, running is better than therapy,” Raffucci repeated several times.

Raffucci asked his cardiologist if it was fine for him to run two or three miles, sneakily hiding the fact that he wanted to run five.

“She said no, she didn’t want to see that,” Raffucci grinned.

But at the same time, Raffucci met New York Road Runners Striders trainer Maria Romano, who inspired him and taught him how to run. Last year, in the 18th or 20th mile, Raffucci can’t quite remember, Romano showed up and started running alongside Raffucci.

“I thought to myself, ‘No, I’m not going to finish,’ and she went next to me, giving me a push, showing me what to do, and little by little, as the miles passed by, I was just dragging myself,” Raffucci recalled. “But at the end, it was incredible. And I’m going to run again this year — anybody who can put their mind on it can do it.”

Determined marathoners stride through the heart of Brooklyn for the 2024 New York City Marathon.File photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Raffucci usually frequents Prospect Park to train, but said he fell in love with Central Park when he ran through it the first time. He said the park that features the iconic that holds iconic finish point for the New York City marathon has “something there that I like more that I can’t describe.”

The park is deceptively hilly and provides a last mental hurdle for runners, climbing through the rolling hills and making their way to West Drive and 67th street for the finish line.

Raffucci also doesn’t believe in listening to music or anything else while he runs. “I believe in thinking about my problems, thinking about solutions,” Raffucci said. The practice clears his mind and pushes him to keep going — step after step, day after day.

He hopes to continue his 20-year daily tradition well into his 80s and 90s, saying God gave him the strength to run and to keep his heart strong.

“Recently, I went to my cardiologist, and I carried a bunch of seven to eight medals, especially the New York City marathon Medal,” Raffucci said. “I said, ‘Look, Doctor, I did it.’ So I carried them, and I feel so good to show her it could be done. Because two years ago, I had the palpitation, they were working [on] my heart, and I was so sad because I said, ‘this is the beginning of the end.’”

“No, no, no, this is the beginning of the of something nice and beautiful,” Raffucci added. “You know, age is just a number.”