EVEN if you have never run to the corner store for a quart of milk, you’ll enjoy the tale of Louie Archambeau.
His is one of those New York stories. It’s about life, running, football, music and all that’s magic, the essence of the New York City Marathon.
Louie was one of the 30,000-and-change marathoners, number 17,697 on your scorecard, who clawed his way through the city yesterday on a perfect November day.
But he was the only one with a harmonica in his fanny pack.
On First Avenue, at the 19-mile mark, between 112th and 113th, right in front of the Thomas Jefferson Rec Center, Louie pulled up to perform with the Squirrels From Hell.
These Squirrels, who bill themselves as “The band New York City couldn’t kill,” have been volunteering their services to the race for 10 years. Jamming with “Louie, Louie” at this exact spot last year was wonderful so they decided to do it again yesterday.
“This runner just comes out of the crowd and says, ‘Hey, can I play with you guys?'” recalls Squirrel Roger Morrison. “We figured he was crazy. He’s one of our own now.”
Not unlike the fan who has come up to the Squirrels for years at the marathon, silently watching them perform and then leaving an appreciative pile of acorns.
“Wednesday we’ll be in Hell,” cracks band member Joe Con of their gig at Hell’s Kitchen Bar on Ninth Avenue. Playing their grunge-punk music for the marathon crowd yesterday, Morrison notes, is “heaven.”
Especially when Louie stops by to play the blues as the curb-to-curb stream of runners goes wild when one of their own takes center stage for a few minutes. Louie repeated the scene down the road, too.
“He started the blues scene in Miami,” says friend Michael Mahoney, watching Louie perform. Louie is 62, although he looks even younger than the 47 he put down on his race card. He’s from Key Biscayne, a musician by trade, who got into running 20 years ago when a friend gave him a pair of running shoes.
He still has the shoes, a pair of leather Tigers, and the friend, Bobby Beathard, general manager of the San Diego Chargers, who back then was director of player personnel for the Miami Dolphins.
Turns out that Louie and Bobby had much in common. They’re the same age, and Louie grew up in Ohio, 100 miles from where Beathard was raised. Louie played cornerback and halfback at Ohio State for Woody Hayes.
“I never had any guidance in life until I played for Woody,” Louie says. “He was a madman, but an amazing guy who believed totally in what he did – three yards and a cloud of dust.”
“Louie is a true renaissance man, there isn’t anything he can’t do,” Beathard said earlier in the week, between rounds with his overpaid quarterback – the NFL’s biggest punk, quarterback Ryan Leaf – who lobbed obscenities at his boss after a workout dispute.
Louie loves to take up the cause for others. “There are so many people out there who have played sports and have that one big event still left in their soul,” he says.
To that end Louie is in the final stages of writing a book, delightfully titled: “How To Run Your First Marathon Without Giving Up Your Drinking Habits.” His, by the way, is a shot of Wild Turkey.
Louie has run 31 marathons. This was his 13th New York marathon – his favorite “because of the people,” he says.
“Running through New York is like running through the world. People in New York know what the street is all about. That’s why I stopped and played. This is one of the most entertaining days of my life, so I just wanted to entertain.”
When you finish, you win, no matter your time. His time yesterday was 5:14, with two musical stops.
“It’s like Zen archery,” Louie says. “It’s how you pull back the bow and shoot the arrow that’s most important, not if you hit the bull’s-eye.”