Emily Rizzo had “never seen” anything like it.
Taking in her first New York City marathon experience last fall, Emily — the wife of New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo — had been struck by the “electric” feel of the city as spectators cheered on the participants powering their way through the 26.2-mile journey throughout the boroughs.
“It just brought the entire city together in a way I’ve never seen,” Emily recently recalled to The Post. “Just strangers cheering on strangers, complete support and happiness.”
Emily will feel that same love from the crowd when she participates in her first-ever marathon, the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon, on Sunday, Nov. 5, running on behalf of the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, which Rizzo founded in 2012 to help support pediatric cancer patients and their families.
Anthony — who recently wrapped his third season in New York — was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in April 2008, months after the Boston Red Sox selected him in the sixth round of the 2007 MLB Draft.
The perseverance of those battling cancer, as well as the unyielding support of their loved ones, is the driving force behind Emily’s marathon journey.
“These kids give it their all to fight cancer and these families give it their all to be there and support each other, I feel honored to put in the work to help support them,” she said.
A lifelong athlete, Emily has always considered herself a “spontaneous runner,” exercising for pleasure rather than sport.
“It was always more of a hobby for me. It’s just a way to get out of your own head sometimes and a way to escape reality,” Emily said.
Running has also served as a way for Emily to get to know her surroundings.
Upon moving to Chicago when Rizzo was a member of the Cubs (2012-21), Emily ran as “a way to get out and learn the city.”
“I was like, ‘Oh, that nail salon looks good,’ or ‘This looks like a restaurant we should go to,’ and things like that, and then I feel like I can really learn my surroundings,” she said.
The Rizzos, who have been married since 2018, try to incorporate a run — “no matter how long it is” — into their annual offseason trip.
“Just seeing a new place on foot is a completely different experience,” Emily said.
“That was always one of my favorite things ever to do, just get out there and run, cause I feel like you really submerge yourself in a culture, a city or a town, and see things you wouldn’t have seen just driving around.”
With Emily now engrossed in marathon training, she’s abiding by her own timetable as the Rizzos’ schedule is relatively “fluid.”
“There’s really no set schedule of when I train,” Emily said. “Sometimes that’s waking up early and getting it done, sometimes that’s before night games, sometimes it’s at night after a day game.”
Emily believes that spontaneity has been beneficial to her body.
“It’s not always used to me waking up and then running, or it’s not used to me having the whole day and then running. It’s really been trial and error and kind of learning your body,” she said.
Come marathon day, Emily will have the support of Rizzo, 34, who remains in awe of his wife’s efforts.
“Just to see her, day in and day out, fight to do the training because, with our schedule and traveling, and we’re in one city and then the next city, Emily making the time to get in [the training] pretty much no matter what,” Rizzo told The Post. “It’s really impressive.”
Emily has also been fortunate to lean on friends for marathon advice, including Samantha Bracksieck, a 2022 New York City marathon alum and the wife of Rizzo’s Yankees teammate, Aaron Judge.
“I have gone to her throughout this entire process and asked her a gazillion questions about what the day [of] looks like, what I should be wearing, what headphones, what her training looks like,” Emily said. “We’ve ran together as well, and she’s really been a support system for me and given me a lot of good experience advice.”
For Emily, the biggest lesson she’s learned through this experience is to never count out the strength from within.
“A lot of times you wake up and you’re tired, and you’re like, ‘I just really don’t know if I have it in me today. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get this done.’ And even if you start your first mile and you’re like, ‘I really don’t know if this is going to happen today,’ but it does… your body and you can do so much more than you think you can do,” she said.
As for Emily’s post-marathon plans, that appears to be Rizzo’s task at hand.
“Hopefully on race day I’ll just help with some good signs and a good party afterward,” he said.
