Dan Graziano, senior NFL national reporter 9y

Odell Beckham will cheer on his mother in NYC Marathon on Sunday

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants don't play until Monday night, which is a nice break for rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. His mother, Heather Van Norman, is running in the New York City Marathon on Sunday, and because he has no game that day, Beckham has a chance to go and watch her.

"I'm going to try and find her, maybe help her with that last stretch," Beckham said Friday. "I know she'll make it, but I'm going to be there for her."

Van Norman was a six-time All-America sprinter at LSU and is now the track and cross country coach at Nicholls State University. Beckham said she runs more than 10 miles a day but that this will be her first marathon. He said he'd like to run the final eight miles with her, though that seems unlikely considering he has a game the next night and the security measures the marathon has in place to make sure only registered runners are on the course.

Regardless, Beckham will be there to support his mother, with whom he has a strong running rivalry.

"We have this ongoing bet. She thinks she can beat me in the mile," Beckham said. "I don't even know what I run a mile in, but I know I'm faster than my mom."

Beckham said he didn't know how he'd navigate the course as a spectator, since he refuses to ride the subway and he knows streets will be closed. He also said his mother doesn't have a time goal -- that since it's her first marathon, "she just wants to finish."

Her and thousands more.

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