Slow and steady finishes the race and that’s always been the story of Niagara-on-the-Lake marathoner Margot Devlin’s running career.

On Sunday she completed the New York City Marathon for the 14th time. In all, she has done more than 20 marathons.

“Well, I made it,” she told The Lake Report afterward her latest conquest. “I wasn’t first, but I wasn’t last, so job done.”

With more than 61,000 people competing, she finished in 58,879th spot, according to the marathon’s official results.

Running in the 70 to 74 age group, Devlin was 103rd of 127 participants.

But for the veteran marathoner, who trains on the streets of NOTL, it’s never been about what place she finishes. It’s about finishing the race. Period.

Her time for the 42-kilometre run was 6 hours 50 minutes. “I am slow but I did better than last year, so I am happy,” she said.

Her husband Shaun accompanies her to races to cheer her on and provide moral support.

With one more New York finish, Devlin will qualify for membership in a very exclusive group, the Streakers Club.

Sponsored by the New York Road Runners, the club is open solely to those who have completed 15 or more Big Apple marathons.

In addition, on future race days members are able to warm up in a heated tent on Staten Island, sheltered from the elements. That’s also where celebrity participants hang out before the race.

Actress Jennifer Connelly and former NFLer Tiki Barber were among the more famous runners who took part this year, Devlin said, though she didn’t spot either of them.

“One year Ethan Hawke was in the security line with me but they whisked him off to the VIP tent,” she added.

The atmosphere for the New York race is always electric, like a mammoth street party, as thousands of people line the route.

“There were two million spectators cheering us on. It was bigger and noisier than ever before,” she said.

At one point along the way, people were offering vodka shots to runners. “A woman running beside me downed two shots. I hope she made it to the end. I didn’t see her again.”

The finish line is uphill in Central Park, which was “brutal after all the hills we ran. New York is quite hilly.” But the long treks across the city’s bridges and their elevation can be even tougher, she noted.

Along the route, quite a few “counter-terrorism officers with very large guns” were out this year, but “we never heard if there was a threat of any kind,” she said.

With New York race number 14 “done and dusted,” now the training starts for her next big race.

Along with a record 100,000 other runners, Devlin plans to compete in the London Marathon for the eighth time next April.