Eventually, Cass was drawn to the New York City Marathon, as much for the spectacle as the distance. He was a sports fan, and he lived in a city with one of the world’s great races. In 2006, Cass and Francovitch stood at Columbus Circle — in the marathon’s final mile — and watched runners stream past. Francovitch was moved to tears by one man, a grandfather who ran with the names of his grandchildren on his shirt.

“Right at the end, every emotion you can imagine is written all over their faces,” Cass said. “Living in New York, I could appreciate just how huge the event was. It’s an event where you can run with the elites. Even if you finish one hour or two or three behind them, it’s a fun thing to do. Actually witnessing it in New York made me realize how inspiring it could be.”

Taking the Plunge

In 2008, Cass downloaded a training program from the Internet and began running 40 to 45 miles a week. By his account, he had no clue what he was doing. His idea of pacing was to run at a speed that felt comfortable and to hope he was still holding that pace 26 miles later. Still, he finished New York in an encouraging 2:52:56. Perhaps, he told himself, he could be decent at this.

In 2009, Cass bought a book about marathoning and increased his mileage to 60 to 65 miles a week. His body could not quite keep up with his exuberance, though. In one 10-day stretch, he ran the Philadelphia Half Marathon, the Fifth Avenue Mile and an 18-mile New York City Marathon tuneup in Central Park. He aggravated the patellar tendon in his knee, and while he later ran New York in 2:48:36, the final 15 miles felt like the longest of his life.

He felt he was on the verge of being able to run fast, but he still lacked a full understanding of the race. So Cass joined the Central Park Track Club. He ran the 2010 Boston Marathon in 2:39:20, a breakthrough of sorts, although in the final six miles, his quadriceps began to ache and “the wheels came off,” he said.

Afterward, Cass decided to skip the 2010 New York City Marathon and devote the next 18 months to preparing for New York in 2011. Working with Tony Ruiz, who coaches the track club’s road-running team, Cass changed his biomechanics, becoming more efficient and upright. He began doing track workouts. He ran 5- and 10-kilometer races. A body that was 185 or 190 pounds for soccer was pared to a lean 170 pounds.

“He’s an aerobic monster,” Ruiz said of Cass. “He had that toughness for the marathon. We just had to get him to focus on the idea that it takes more than toughness.”