Staten Island teachers on a mission to run the TCS NYC Marathon

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- At PS 9 on Staten Island, what seems like a routine day is anything but when 3 teachers at the elementary school have downtime.

"We're running at 4:30 in the morning, I'm running up and down my block, running during lunch, just find those small pockets of availability and we're getting out there," Gina Principe said.

This is "Team G" named after Gina Principe and their goal is finishing the New York City Marathon.

"Gina wanted to run the marathon," Deni Marie Crowley said. "It's the year of yes for me, so I said yes."

You see like many others during the height of the pandemic in 2020, Gina, Amanda and Deni missed connecting with others in person.

"In the beginning, we walked with masks next to each other, just to talk about silly things, like what did you make for dinner because you missed all that social interaction," Amanda Buatti said.

Gina says running played a key role when it came to her mental health and allowed her to be her best self.

As for training, they started slowly with just 1 mile.

"That mile was hard and difficult, and you cannot imagine finishing it and you finish it and those endorphins kick in and you're like maybe I can do this again," Principe said.

"Every time I feel down and out, tell me tomorrow will be better and they're always right," Buatti said.

One mile turned into two and then many, many more.

"It's like wow, I couldn't run 2 miles this time last year, now running 18 or 16," Crowley said.

Soon, they will run 26.2 miles - the marathon and a dream come true.

Other educators have joined Team G. Their battle cry: if you put your mind to something, you can do it.

"We're 3 average women who set out a goal to run the New York City Marathon and with strategy, plan, and grit we are doing it and want to teach our students that same thing," Principe said.

RELATED: More coverage of the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon

HOW TO WATCH THE TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

Marathon Day in New York is coming up November 6th! The TCS New York City Marathon will be broadcast to more than 530 million homes around the world, with a Spanish language broadcast being produced nationwide for the first time by ESPN.

WABC-TV and ESPN2 have been home to the award-winning broadcast of the world's largest marathon since 2013.

It will be the first Spanish-language broadcast of any marathon to air on ESPN Deportes, airing live on ESPN3 and the App from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and then will re-air on ESPN Deportes from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EST.

Joining the talent team for this year's domestic broadcast will be five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and 13-time Paralympic medalist Kurt Fearnley and running reporter Chris Chavez. Fearnley will be in the broadcast booth as a race analyst for all four professional divisions, and Chavez will make his broadcast debut on the men's moto. John Anderson, Lewis Johnson, three-time Olympian and former American record-holder Deena Kastor, Sage Steele, and Olympian Carrie Tollefson will round out the national talent.

The group will be joined by a talented array of reporters at the start, finish, along the course, and in the sky, including ABC7's Eyewitness News reporters Ryan Field, Sam Ryan, Anthony Johnson, Kemberly Richardson, Michelle Charlesworth, Lee Goldberg, Brittany Bell, and Josh Einiger.

The broadcast, produced in coordination with 45 Live and distributed by IMG, will air on ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN2 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST. Pre-race coverage from Fort Wadsworth begins at 7:00 a.m. EST.

The race will also stream live on the ESPN App nationally from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST.

Pre-race and continuing coverage will also be streamed live nationally on ESPN3 (accessible on the ESPN App and ESPN.com) from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ESPN3 will present a view of the finish line from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.

A two-hour encore presentation of the race broadcast will air on ABC affiliates around the country from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.

The international broadcast will include three-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and four-time British Olympian Paula Radcliffe providing race analysis, alongside veteran track and field commentator Paul Swangard.

International broadcast partners secured by IMG for the race include: FloSports (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom), ESPN Brasil (Brazil), SMG Sports (China), Eurosport (Pan Europe, Pan Asia, India), L'Equipe (France), RAI (Italy), TV Asahi (Japan), Sky Mexico (Mexico), NOS (Netherlands), Sky (New Zealand), SuperSport (Sub-Saharan Africa), ESPN International (South America), and TVE and TV3 (Spain).