BY LINDA ROBERTSON

NEW YORK - Bruce and Sherry Wilk were born, raised, educated and married in New York City. Bruce grew up in Forest Hills, Sherry in East Flatbush. They met in a physiology class in Brooklyn.
“We’d probably still be living in New York if we hadn’t decided after our wedding that instead of a nice bedroom set we needed nice weather,” Sherry said. “So we moved to Florida.”

On Sunday, the Miami couple will do a homecoming tour - a grueling one. They will celebrate their love for their hometown and each other in the 26.2 mile, five-borough adventure known as the ING New York City Marathon. They will be one of some 38,000 stories in the race that starts on the Verrazano Bridge and ends in Central Park. They won’t be together. Bruce will run and Sherry will walk. It’s his fourth NYC Marathon, her first.

“For me, it’s a dream come true,” Sherry, 52, said, “I’ve seen all the pictures of the runners going over the bridge, and now I’ll be in the middle of it.”

The Wilks, who live in Kendall, are co-owners of the Runner’s High running shop in Suniland. He’s a physical therapist, she is a former registered nurse. They will be cheered on by friends - including Sherry’s two best friends from Samuel J. Tilden High School - and daughter Rachel, a Killian High and University of Florida graduate who is working as a fashion assistant at More magazine.

“Bruce will probably finish two hours before Sherry said. “But we don’t compete against other. This is about competing against yourself.

Sherry dedicated herself to an exercise regimen after recovering from breast cancer eight years ago. Now, she and Bruce lead weekly sessions for the Miami Runners Club. They estimate about 100 marathoners from Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach Counties will participate.

Among the professionals, defending champion Marilson Gomes Dos Santos of Brazil will be challenged by a strong contingent of Kenyans, including former champion Rogers Rop. The women’s race could be the most intriguing. England’s Paula Radcliffe will push her pace and Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia is trying to win for a third consecutive year.

New York’s marathon is the last in the World Marathon Majors Series, and the overall winners will earn $500,000. The money is what lured Ethiopia’s Gete Wami into trying to win two in 35 days. Wami won in Berlin in September.
“I wanted to win more points, and after the Berlin race I felt good and I recovered well,” Wami said.

The Wilks will be back in the pack, running for fulfillment, not placement.
“You can have a bad run, but you can’t have a bad day when you do a marathon,” said Bruce, 50 whose best time was 4 hours, 15 minutes, “but that was when I was in my 30s.” On Monday, which is Sherry’s birthday, they plan to celebrate with a feast in Chinatown.

Love is a unifying theme when it comes to Bruce and Sherry Wilk of Miami running in the New York Marathon.