What registers as long-form journalism these days are back-to-back 140-character tweets.

So it was refreshing, if not stunning, to see the New York Times publish a 6,500-word story on the last run of ultra marathoner Micah True Monday. Besides the incredible length, the paper displayed Barry Bearak’s piece over the first five pages of its Times Monday sports section. A report on the Rangers-Devils series did not appear until page 8.

The story was fascinating. True, a truly mystical character, was the subject of Christopher McDougall’s best-selling book Born to Run.

Here’s the link and be sure to check out the audio version read by Jay O. Sanders.

However, allot some time. We’re talking five pages of newspaper type here. I printed the story off the link and it was 17 pages.

And the subject wasn’t Derek Jeter or new New York Jet Tim Tebow.

In this day and age, what makes the Times think people will stick with a 6,500-word story? I did a Q/A with Times deputy sports editor Jason Stallman.

What went into your decision to devote this kind of space for the story, and then to run it on five open pages before getting to nut-and-bolts Yankees, Rangers, Mets coverage?

It’s an exceptional story. The type of thing that comes along once a year, if that. So we wanted to give it special treatment.

Did you ever consider breaking up the story and running it as a series?

Yes, we did talk about that. In the end, we figured that breaking it up might only confuse or frustrate readers who came to the story after the first day. They’d have to go back and catch up. Also, I think the story is incredibly powerful when read straight through.

What kind of reaction did you get from readers and your fellow sports editors? Do you think people read it?

There’s been quite a bit of response, and all of it overwhelmingly positive — from colleagues in the newsroom and readers around the world. The bottom line is that people appreciate a good story well told. Perhaps running it in full on one day turned off some readers. I don’t know. But the folks who bought in sure did get a treat. We’re able to monitor in real time how people are engaging with individual articles on our web site. Throughout the day on Monday, this piece was attracting a staggering number of readers. Far more than the norm.

Is this a statement that long-form journalism isn’t dead?

No, it’s not any kind of statement, other than that Barry Bearak is “Michael, Magic and Bird, all rolled in one.”