NEW YORK– Pia Wurtzbach joined over 70,000 runners from all over the world here in New York Sunday, in her first ever marathon experience.

She became the first Miss Universe title holder to run in the prestigious 2022 TCS New York City Marathon.

The Miss Universe crown holder struggled to finish the 42-km marathon, and successfully finished it with fiancé Jeremy Jauncey boosting her morale every step of the way.

Joining the iconic New York marathon got Wurtzbach so excited, the same feeling she had when she joined the Miss Universe competition in 2015.

“For years, I was looking for something that would get me excited as much as Miss Universe did. I kept looking & trying new things but couldn’t find that feeling again…until now,” Wurtzbach said in her Instagram post hours before the event.

She said it was her “secret dream” to finish the New York City marathon and it was only Jeremy who knew about it.

“I kept it to myself for so long because I was embarrassed or maybe insecure about my athletic capabilities. Imagine saying “I want to run a marathon” when you don’t even run 10 minutes on a treadmill 😅🙈 Nahiya ako. But I wanted it! I had the vision in my head I just needed to make it into reality…and now here we are. 🥹,” Wurtzbach shared in her Instagram post.

Before leaving the hotel, Wurtzbach was so nervous. “I had a dream I didn’t finish it,” Pia said in the video of Jauncey posted on Instagram Story.

On her 80-kilometer mark, Queen P was already limping. 

“Come on baby…. There she is!!” Jauncey said. In a flash, Pia hugged him for comfort.

On her last stretch, Jauncey joined Wurtzbach. “My knee hurts, I’m limping,” Wurtzbach said, almost crying.

And then she did it! She got the NY Marathon medal. “I did it! I did it! I did it! My phone wallpaper is now a reality,” Wurtzbach said, apparently referring that her dream board to finish the race was in her smartphone wallpaper. 

“She did it!” Jauncey posted at the end of his Instagram Story. “COVID, work & travel schedule, and she still achieved her goal.”

Around 400 other Filipino-American runners also joined NYC TCS Marathon that stretched on five boroughs of New York City — Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Central Park, Manhattan. With reports from NYC Stringer Cesar “Boyet” Loverita.