THERE could be a new challenger on theinternational marathon circuit in a few years, considering how much JaredCrouch enjoyed his recent involvement in one of the world's most famousdistance events.

Crouch completed the New York City Marathonon November 4 this year, after deciding to enter the event with teammate TadhgKennelly in a bid to raise money for the Heart Foundation.

Sadly, Kennelly's knee problems meant hecouldn't join Crouch on the run, which left the 29-year-old to embark on theexperience that he described as "pretty amazing" with his partner,Rebecca.  

"There are about 40,000 people doingit with you, and the majority of those are doing it for different charities aswell," Crouch told sydneyswans.com.au, a week after returning to Australia.

"I think that was one of the mostamazing things that struck me; the goodness of people out there. There were allthese people running for different causes and fundraisers, which was prettyspecial.

"Equally, it felt like the whole of New York got out andsupported you on the marathon. It was three or four deep the whole way alongthe course, people just cheering you on and looking for something on your shirtthey could yell out, whether it be your name, or in my case, it was the HeartFoundation Australia.

"There were people yelling out, ‘Go Australia’. Itjust spurred you on and made the six hours it took us to walk it moreenjoyable."

Between Crouch and Kennelly, a total of$38,784.95 was raised for the campaign, which was entitled "Tadhg's AllHeart" in memory of his father, who passed away suddenly from a heartattack in December 2005.

Crouch, who did the "jog/walk"along the streets of New Yorkin memory of former Swans head trainer Wally Jackson, said he may have caughtthe running bug after thoroughly enjoying the experience.

"I've never (considered running amarathon) before this one, but now I would. I could only do it in a place like New York or Boston or London, where you actuallyget people out to support you," he said.

"I think it would be pretty tough todo 42kms on your own with no one cheering you on, but again, it was nothing I'dever thought about doing until this one, and definitely something that won'thappen until I retire."

Crouch used the rest of his break to seeother parts of the UnitedStates, and took advantage of the unusualsituation the Swans found themselves in this year of taking an early hiatus.

"It's our only time off during theyear so it was a time to relax and recuperate," Crouch said.

"So we did a bit of the West Coast tostart with, LA, San Francisco up to the Napa Valley,and then basically New Yorkfor the rest of it."

Looking ahead to 2008, Crouch is optimisticthe injuries that have plagued him for the past two years – as well as thehamstring that held off his 200th game milestone for nearly three months – are athing of the past.

"Hopefully I'm now putting the lastfew years behind me and having a full pre-season and having a good year,"he said.

"(The hamstring) did seem a long time.I don't know what the stats were but I was probably the longest player on 199games for a long time, especially after having such a good run.

"Numbers aren't that important though,it's just about getting back fit and trying to help out the team if I could,and that's all I'm trying to do."

Next year will mark 10 years since Crouchmade his debut in the red and white, as well as his 13th year at the club.

But, he won't consider his longevity as aplayer throughout the upcoming year, and insisted he still feels young andcapable of tackling even the toughest of pre-seasons. 

"It goes by so quickly that I wouldn'thave said it had been 10 years. It's my 13th year at the club, so it does go byvery quickly," he said.

"I supposewhen you do think of those things, it just means I'm getting a bit older."