Jordan Daniel of Westhampton Has Impressive Run in New York City Marathon

On December 30, 2017, his 23rd birthday, Jordan Daniel, with no distance running experience whatsoever, decided to go out for a long run. He didn’t have a destination in mind, or a specific distance or time. He simply wanted to test himself — his body, both mentally and physically — push it to the limits and see how he felt afterwards.

Seventeen miles later, Daniel finished what was, at the time, his longest run ever. That was until September 2018, when Daniel won the first ever marathon he ever raced in, the Hamptons Marathon, and from there sparked what has been a successful running career in some of the most competitive races in the country, culminating with an impressive finish in the latest New York City Marathon on November 6.

Daniel, now 27, and a 2013 graduate of Westhampton Beach High School, finished one of the most popular races in the world in 2:24:27, a mile pace of 5:31, which placed him an impressive 25th overall out of 47,744 runners and ninth out of 28,477 American runners. All were personal bests after a 44th finish in 2019 and a 28th finish last year.

Not too bad for someone who was a soccer player growing up — Daniel was a four-year varsity soccer player at Westhampton Beach before playing a four-year college career split between Manhattanville College and Adelphi University, where he finished his soccer career.

“It was a pretty hot day so I had to battle that, but overall it was a really great day,” Daniel said. “From the beginning, you’re just trying to find a pace to settle in to for the first 13 miles or so, trying to stay as relaxed as possible, really enjoy the atmosphere. Then you get to mile 20, and, for me, that’s where I think the race really begins. The last 10K are really the hard part, where you’re battling through some of the mental and physical fatigue. You’re not trying to do too much or too little, just trying to stay consistent.”

Daniel reiterated how difficult it was with the heat and humidity that day. To put that into perspective, the top American runner in the race, Galen Rupp, dropped out of the race before reaching mile 19. Whether or not that was heat and humidity related is unknown, but the race was difficult enough for one of the top runners to exit.

“Everyone’s race plan changed because of the heat and humidity,” Daniel said. “Everyone is competing against, or with, everyone. I look at it as we’re all in it together, but people run differently and it’s usually dependent on the course. I really always try and approach every day and race like I’m here for today, accepting what is and trying your best no matter what the conditions are. I thought I did that.”

Westhampton Beach resident Clint Greenbaum is an avid fan of Daniel for a few reasons. One, because he is a local guy, and two, he simply loves the way he runs.

Greenbaum said he actually first met Daniel when the two were training around town. He and his wife Elisa were training on their ElliptiGOs, Daniel was sprinting by them. Ever since then, Greenbaum has referred to Daniel affectionately as “The Gazelle.”

“I was a bit of a runner in high school and college myself, but I never saw anybody run like he does,” he said. “Twenty-fifth in the New York City Marathon, the ninth American, is just phenomenal, especially when you put into account that this year’s field was larger than last year’s field because of COVID. There was a smaller field last year because people were still coming back to racing and the alignment of all the marathons were different. This year, they all went back to normal, so there certainly was a bigger field.”

The layman to marathons may not know that there are different levels of runners in the marathon. There are professional runners, like Rupp, who get the most preferential treatment, such as the best living arrangements in the days leading up to the race. Daniel noted that professional runners also get their own water bottles that can have whatever they want in them. Typically, he said, it’s a carbohydrate mix of some sort that also gives them a big leg up on the other runners.

Just below the professional runners there is a group called “sub-elite,” which because of his times and previous finishes, Daniel was in this year. He stayed in midtown Manhattan the night before, caught a 5:45 a.m. bus to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, which worked as a training center for runners, before heading to the starting line around 9 a.m.

In 2019, his first time ever competing in the marathon, Daniel had what he called the basic marathon experience, where he stayed at a friend’s house the night before in Jersey City, then took the subway to get to lower Manhattan before having to wait outside for quite some time before the start of the race. Daniel explained that getting to become a professional or sub-elite runner simply comes down to advocating for yourself as such, and he’s looking to do so for future races, mainly through competing.

Daniel has enjoyed taking the past few weeks following the marathon off and said his body has recuperated better than he expected, especially considering he had a serious bout with COVID just weeks before the race, which messed with his training schedule a little, making his finish even more impressive. As well as he ran in New York City, Daniel still feels he can improve, with uninterrupted and more training and better conditions.

With how well he currently feels, Daniel is eyeing the Miami Marathon at the end of January and the Austin Marathon in February. He’s toying with the idea of running the Chicago Marathon in October of next year, but still participating in the NYC Marathon about a month later. This is if it all coincides with his schedule, which includes continuing to study to be a psychologist and his upcoming wedding in July of next year as well.

But now Daniel has a specific goal in mind, and that’s to run a sub 2:18 marathon. Doing so would put him in line to run in Olympic Trials for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

“I look at it as not trying to accomplish this goal, but how can this goal bring the best out in me?” Daniel said. “I would have to shave off quite a bit of time from what I just ran, but I’m confident in my ability to do it. There are some pretty amazing marathoners in America, so my expectations are grounded at the moment. But it would be amazing to qualify and be able to participate and compete against and with the top runners in country.”

Daniel’s biggest fan is confident he can do it.

“Jordan is very special person,” Greenbaum said. “He has the ability to do some really big things. He can get better.”