"Put Your Head Down and Work Hard, and Good Things Will Follow"
David Drake has been a runner since college, back in the early 1990s. "It's been a part of my life, off and on, for about 30 years," he said. "I've always liked it, and always felt like it was a good base for lots of things."
David will run the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile on September 12 as part of the FDNY/NYPD heat, which is featured in the race every year and will have special significance this year as NYC observes the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks the day before the race.
He's also training for the TCS New York City Marathon on November 7. David has run nearly two dozen NYRR races over the years, including the 2016 NYRR Staten Island Half (pictured above).
A native of Brooklyn, David joined the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) in 1998. In September 2001, he had just gotten married and had a newborn daughter. David was working as a firefighter and training for his FDNY lieutenant test that October.
Following 9/11, David’s test was postponed until February and he became part of the World Trade Center recovery effort. For the month of November, 12 hours every day, David dug and cleared rubble where the towers once stood.
"Running was not part of my life during that time," said David. "There were a lot of other things going on."
Still, his fitness base helped carry him through his FDNY test and he became a lieutenant. He's remained with the FDNY ever since, becoming a captain in 2008 and a battalion chief in 2016. He now oversees a specialized unit that responds to technical rescues and a variety of alarms, and also oversees accident and injury investigations.
David ran his first marathon in New York in 2011, when he was 39, finishing in 3:39. He ran again in 2016, at age 44, covering the distance in 3:40. That year he honed his fitness by racing at least once a month, including all the 2016 NYRR Five-Borough Series races.
Late last year, as he looked ahead running the marathon again this November, David challenged himself to run at least a mile every single day in 2021. He's kept the streak going and now plans to continue it beyond December 31, which will be his 50th birthday.
"The way I've always approached things is to just put your head down and work hard, and good things will follow," said David. "Linking back to 9/11 and everything that happened, you just do what you've got to do and you will get through this."
He's even planning to run on November 8, the day after the marathon. "With the streak, some days I just run a mile, some days more, but I'm out there," David said. "I don't see myself stopping. I have to have something in front of me. It keeps you going."
David will be featured on an upcoming episode of our Habitual Routine podcast. You can listen to the episode (starting September 16), learn more, and subscribe to Habitual Routine here or wherever you listen to podcasts.