Father and son team is on the run

College freshman Jason Neustadter and his father Larry, a professor of radiology in the School of Medicine, have been on the run for more than a year. And November 12 the duo put their skills to work -- running the New York Marathon in just less than five hours. It was the first marathon for the pair, and according to the father-and-son team, will not be the last. "It's probably going to start a tradition," the father said of the long-distance pair. According to Larry Neustadter, he was first inspired to run the marathon a year and a half ago. "I used to run cross country in high school, so I decided, 'let's go out and do it,' " he said. He quickly jumped into a rigorous training routine in preparation for the 26.2 mile run. "I must have done a thousand miles since New Year's -- 40 races, ranging from one mile to 18 miles each," Larry Neustadter said. "I got really into it, a lot more than anyone else." He said his son also ran cross country as a senior in high school, and is in great shape. But Jason Neustadter didn't train as extensively for the marathon as his father had. In fact, the father called his son's training methods "very unorthodox." "I ran three long-distance runs," Jason Neustadter said. "That was it." "Look around you," the elder Neustadter said to his son at the crowded starting line of the 28,000-runner race. "You probably trained less than anybody you can see." Nevertheless, both father and son made it to the finish line together, after running side by side for the entire route. The Neustadters did not care as much about their four hour, 39 minute finishing time as they did about their shared accomplishment of completing the race. "We weren't going to make the Olympic team. It was more important to finish together because that's something we'll remember for the rest of our lives," Larry Neustadter said. "That's basically why we did it." The son admitted that his father could have gone much faster without him. "We didn't stop to walk at all, really," Jason Neustadter said. However, even with encouragement from each other, the race was not without its difficulties. "At 18 miles, my left knee went out," Jason Neustadter said. His father agreed that the 18th mile marked the beginning of the real struggle. "We sort of ran out of steam," the father said. Jason Neustadter said his father's encouragement really pulled him through to the end. The Neustadters' success was enough to encourage them to decide to run in the New York Marathon again next year. Larry Neustadter is already in training. But he said he knows his son will be busy with crew and weightlifting, rather than focusing on running. "I'm running a race this weekend," he said. "Jason probably won't do anything until the next marathon."