UFL Team Owner Bill Mayer, Son Prove Splendid Marathon Men

Bill Mayer has only three things to show for his weekend's work. A small medal around his neck and two blisters on his feet.

That's not a lot to show for running a marathon, but sometimes numbers don't tell the whole story.

Take the number 70. It's supposed to mean you're too old to run 26.2 miles. But two days after finishing the New York City Marathon, Mayer was giving the number a new meaning.

"I feel like dancing," he said.

Or take the number $62,553. That's how many dollars Mayer and his son raised on Sunday. They'll mean books and scholarships for a school in Harlem -- the Harlem Academy -- that really needs them.

"It's kind of incredible what's happening," said Will Mayer, the son who ran every step of the way.

It's a bit easier when you're 37 and have run a marathon in just over three hours. So when Will came to his father and said he'd run alongside him through New York's five boroughs, his father had one piece of advice.

"Bring a book," he said.

Bill did a marathon six years ago, but he rarely puts in 26.2 miles in two weeks, much less one afternoon. Running is just a nice release from his day job, which is more numbers.

"It's easy to just write a check. It's a lot more meaningful to go into a school and volunteer or run a marathon and get other people to write checks."
--Will Mayer He crunches them as the founder of Park Avenue Equity, a New York investment firm. Mayer's done it well enough to buy the Hartford Colonials of the UFL. His players didn't know what to think a few weeks ago on a road trip to Omaha when Mayer walked through the lobby of their hotel after a 15-mile run.

"It was like, 'Holy Cow. What's wrong with him?'" Bill Mayer said.

Let's just say the Saints have never seen Tom Benson in running shorts. After Sunday, Mayer is undoubtedly the fastest septuagenarian owner of a pro football team in U.S. history. Which brings us to another number.

Five hours. That's how fast Mayer hoped to cover the course. If you don't think that's a challenge, try driving the course that quickly on a normal New York City day.

The whole idea began when Will Mayer, a clinical psychologist, got a couple of charity entries into the marathon. That meant instead of going through the usual lottery process to get into the field, he could enter and raise money for a worthy cause.

His favorite cause is the Harlem Academy, a private school a friend started six years ago in the heart of an educationally challenged neighborhood .Will went to his father and they decided to raise money together.

"It's easy to just write a check," Will said. "It's a lot more meaningful to go into a school and volunteer or run a marathon and get other people to write checks."

They pass the school about the 22-mile mark. Will ran ahead and stopped for a quick chat with some of the people cheering them on. Bill was preoccupied trying to convince himself 70 is the new 60.

They'd settled into a steady pace that would get them to the finish line in about five hours. When they finally hit Central Park, that number looked shaky.

"You can do this," Will told his dad. "Let's go!"

They finished in 4:58:33. Bill was the 36th out of 140 in his age group. Among the people he beat were Al Roker, Meredith Vieira, the Chilean miner and Jared the Subway ex-fat guy.

"Part of it's genetics," he said. "Part of it's luck that I'm still here and able to run. A lot of my friends can't."

The Mayers had initially hoped to raise about $26,000, or a grand for every mile. Donations were still coming in Tuesday, so that $62,553 might get even larger.

It will be more than a number to kids in Harlem. Just like 70 is what you make of it.

"It's just a number," Bill said.

Here's one more -- zero. That's how often in a lifetime most fathers and sons do something like the Mayers.

"The idea of running a marathon with my son was very emotional," Bill said. "It was seriously spectacular."

Far more than mere numbers could ever say.