New York City Marathon
The TCS New York City Marathon logo
Date	First Sunday in November[1]
Location	New York City, U.S.
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon 26.219 miles (42.195 km)
Primary sponsor	TCS (since 2013)[2]
Established	1970, 54 years ago
Course records	2:04:58 Tamirat Tola (2023) 2:22:31 Margaret Okayo (2003)
Official site	www.tcsnycmarathon.org

The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon (42.195 km or 26.219 mi) that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world,^[3][4] with 53,627 finishers in 2019^[5] and 98,247 applicants for the 2017 race.^[3] Along with the Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon, it is among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States and is one of the World Marathon Majors.

The race is organized by New York Road Runners and has been run every year since 1970, with the exception of 2012, when it was cancelled due to the landfall of Hurricane Sandy, and 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race is held on the first Sunday of November and attracts professional competitors and amateurs from all over the world. Because of the popularity of the race, participation is chosen largely by a lottery system. Guaranteed entry to the marathon can be gained by satisfying the requirements of the 9+1 program or the 9+$1K program (where NYRR members run in nine sponsored races and either volunteer at another event or donate $1,000 to support NYRR programs for young athletes), having completed 15 or more previous NYC Marathons, or meeting time qualification standards. In addition, runners can gain an entry by joining a team to raise funds for one of a number of charities.

History

The first New York City Marathon was held 54 years ago on September 13, 1970,^[6] organized by Fred Lebow and the then president of New York Road Runners, Vincent Chiappetta,^{[7][8][better source needed]} with 127 competitors running several loops around the Park Drive of Central Park. Only about 100 spectators watched Gary Muhrcke win the race in 2:31:38. Only 55 runners crossed the finish line.^[9]

Over the years, the marathon grew larger and larger.^[10] To celebrate the U.S. bicentennial in 1976, city auditor George Spitz proposed that the race traverse all five boroughs. With the support of Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, the men convinced Mayor Abraham Beame and, eventually, race director Fred Lebow. The race was a huge success, and what was intended as a one-time celebration became the annual course.

Dick Traum became the first person to complete a marathon with a prosthetic leg when he finished the 1976 New York City Marathon. The marathon grew in popularity two years later when Norwegian Grete Waitz broke the women's world record, finishing in 2:32:30. She went on to win the race an unprecedented nine times.^[9] An official wheelchair and handcycle division was introduced in 2000 and starting in 2002, the elite women are given a 35-minute head start before the elite men and rest of the field.

Beginning in 1976, the race was run in late October and continued to be held in late October until 1986, when the race day was moved to November. The earliest race day was the marathon's first; the latest date in the marathon season was November 14, 1993. The hottest year for the race was 1979 when the race day of October 21 reached 80 °F (27 °C). The coldest race was in 1995 when the race day of November 12 only reached 43 °F (6 °C), with an intense wind chill.^[6]

The New York City Marathon has now become the largest marathon anywhere in the world. Each year nearly two million spectators line the course. Before 2013, the marathon was broadcast live in the New York area on WNBC and on Universal Sports for the entire country; however, in 2013, WABC-TV and ESPN announced they would begin broadcasting the New York City Marathon. Since 2022, the marathon has also been aired in Spanish via ESPN Deportes.^[11] The Marathon can also be watched online.^[12][13]

Course

Initial course

The race was founded by Fred Lebow. Ted Corbitt helped plan the course of the New York City Marathon.^[14] The initial course of 1970 consisted of repeated racing around Central Park.^[15] As per Ted Corbitt, who measured the original course:

The final measurements of the original New York City Marathon course, Manhattan's Central Park, were done the evening of September 8, 1970, after work and training day, using the Calibrated Bicycle Method of Measuring. The course consisted of a start-up, out and back loop of 0.79 mile, from W. 67th St. and Central Park West, near the Tavern-on-the-Green Restaurant, up to the 72nd St. and the West Drive intersection and return to the Tavern-on-the Green followed by a loop of 1.695 miles; then four 5.935 mile loops, totaling 26.225 miles (11 yards over distance), ending at the Tavern-on-the Green Restaurant.^[16]

Five borough course

From 1976, the course covers all five boroughs of New York City. It begins on Staten Island, in Fort Wadsworth, near the approach to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The bridge typically carries only vehicular traffic and is closed for the event. Runners use both sides of the bridge's upper level and the westbound side of the lower level. In the opening minutes of the race, the bridge is filled with runners, creating a dramatic spectacle that is closely associated with the event.

After descending the bridge, the course winds through Brooklyn, mostly along Fourth Avenue and Bedford Avenue, for approximately the next 11 miles (18 km). Runners pass through a variety of neighborhoods, including: Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Park Slope, Bedford–Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint.

At 13.109 miles (21.097 km), runners cross the Pulaski Bridge, marking the halfway point of the race and the entrance into Long Island City in Queens. After about 15.534 miles (25.000 km), runners exit Queens and cross the East River via the lower level of the Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge into Manhattan. At this point in the race, many runners begin to tire, as climbing the bridge is considered one of the most challenging points in the marathon.

Reaching Manhattan after about 16 miles (26 km), the race proceeds north on First Avenue, then crosses into The Bronx via the Willis Avenue Bridge. The race is only in The Bronx for one mile before returning to Manhattan as the course follows East 138th St. before crossing the Madison Avenue Bridge. It then proceeds south through Harlem down Fifth Avenue and into Central Park at East 90th St. At the southern end of the park, the race proceeds west along 59th St./Central Park South, where thousands of spectators cheer runners on during the last mile. At Columbus Circle, the race reenters the park and finishes beside Tavern on the Green. The time limit for this course is 8+1⁄2 hours from the 10:10 a.m. start.

Corrals and timing

In 2008, the race initiated a corral system. Professional women runners were given a separate, earlier start and the balance of the runners began in three staggered starts. The official times are those recorded by a computer chip attached to the back of the runner's bib number, which calculates when a runner crosses the start and when she crosses the finish, known as "net time" (as opposed to "gun time").

Runners also pass timing mats at 5 km intervals along the course, and e-mail notifications can be received by people following runners during the race to track their progress. Although the marathon publicity material uses miles, the timing mats are at 5 km intervals to accommodate the publishing of splits and also enabling potential world records for 20 km, 30 km and other sub-marathon distances to be recorded.

Different initial routes

Although there are three different routes taken through Bay Ridge and up Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, all the routes eventually merge at Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn at Mile 8, and the distance covered by the runners are the same. A runner's bib will have a color (pink, orange, or blue) showing the initial route that they are assigned to, with each color having its own start village and corrals in the staging area.^[17]

Past marathons

1970s

1970

On September 13, 1970, Gary Muhrcke won the first New York City Marathon held in Central Park in 2:31:38. 127 runners started the race and 55 finished. Nina Kuscsik, the sole woman entrant in the race, dropped out at 15 miles due to illness.

1972

Nina Kuscsik, Pat Barrett, Lynn Blackstone, Liz Franceschini, Cathy Miller, and Jane Muhrke protested the rule of the Amateur Athletic Union that women marathoners had to start their race ten minutes before or after the men, which as implemented by the New York City Marathon in 1972 meant that women had to start running ten minutes before the men.^[18][19][20] The women protested by sitting down and waiting ten minutes while holding signs protesting the rule, before starting to run when the men started; they became known as the NYC Six due to their protest.^[18][19][20] Ten minutes were added to their times.^[18] Kuscsik won the marathon.^[20] The ten minutes' difference requirement was dropped later in 1972.^[18][20]

1974

On September 29, 1974, Norbert Sander and Kathrine Switzer became the only New York City residents to win the New York City Marathon, Sander winning in 2:26:30 and Switzer the women's division in 3:07:29. Future four-time NYC Marathon champion Bill Rodgers placed fifth in 2:36:00 out of 259 finishers (250 men, 9 women).

1976

After being run in Central Park from 1970 to 1975, this edition of the marathon traversed all five boroughs for the first time. There were 2,090 entrants and 1,549 finishers. Bill Rodgers, who finished 40th in the 1976 Olympic Games marathon in 2:25:14, came back to win the NYC Marathon in a course record 2:10:10. He beat 1976 Olympic marathon silver medalist Frank Shorter who finished second by more than three minutes, Shorter clocking 2:13:12. 41-year-old Miki Gorman was the first woman in 2:39:11, also a course record.

1977

Bill Rodgers and Miki Gorman were the top male and female finishers, as they had been the previous year, Rodgers winning in 2:11:28 and Gorman in 2:43:10.

1978

Bill Rodgers won his third consecutive New York City Marathon in 2:12:12 on a warm day. Grete Waitz, the Norwegian long-distance runner, set a new course record for women at 2:32:30 to win the first of a record nine New York Marathons. The New York Road Runners club annually sponsors "Grete's Great Gallop," a 10 kilometer race around the Central Park loop, in her honor.^{[citation needed]}

1979

For the first time in NYC Marathon history, over 10,000 runners (10,477) completed the race. Bill Rodgers won his fourth and last New York City Marathon on another warm day in 2:11:42, overtaking Kirk Pfeffer who led for the first 23+1⁄2 miles of the race. Grete Waitz again won the women's race with a finish time of 2:27:33, becoming the first woman ever to break 2:30. In a normally trivial mistake, Rosie Ruiz was accidentally given a finish time of 2:56:29. This qualified her for the 1980 Boston Marathon, where she crossed the finish line with a record time of 2:31:56. It was quickly determined that she had not run the entire course in either race, igniting a major scandal. New York Marathon chief Fred Lebow rescinded Ruiz's time after determining she had not finished the 1979 race, and officials in Boston quickly followed suit.^[21]

1980s

1980

Alberto Salazar, an NCAA cross-country champion, won the 1980 New York City Marathon in 2:09:41. At the time this was the fastest marathon debut by an American. His performance was also a course record. He defended his title in 1981 and 1982. Grete Waitz won her third straight NYC Marathon in 2:25:42, also setting the course record in the women's division.

1981

Alberto Salazar's 2:08:13 was initially considered to be a world's best in the marathon, but the mark was later rescinded by The Athletics Congress (now known as USA Track & Field) when the course was measured to be short by approximately 150 metres (160 yd).^[22] Salazar remarked in 1985 that he would continue to believe that he ran a full marathon, since the lack of crowd control forced him to run wide during his turns.^[23] He has also suggested that a change in how courses were measured after the 1981 race contributed to the discrepancy in the course length.^[22][24]

1983

England's Geoff Smith held a lead through the last half of the race, but was caught at the 26 mile mark in Central Park by 1972 Olympic 1500 metres bronze medalist Rod Dixon from New Zealand, who won by 9 seconds. Dixon had been two and a half minutes behind with 10 km to go. Dixon stood at the finish line celebrating with a collapsed and defeated Smith on the ground behind him.^[25]

1984

Orlando Pizzolato won on a hot day, stopping six times due to heat cramps, but still winning by over a minute in 2:14:53. This was the slowest winning time since 1976 when the New York City Marathon became a world class event. Grete Waitz won her sixth marathon in 2:29:30.

1985

Orlando Pizzolato and Grete Waitz both repeated their previous year's victories. Pizzolato won in easier fashion than in 1984, in 2:11:34. Waitz took her seventh win in 2:28:06.

1986

This year's marathon was held in November (November 2) for the first time and has been ever since. Gianni Poli of Italy won in 2:11:06, the third year in a row that the men's winner was from Italy. Grete Waitz won for the eighth time in 2:28:06.

1987

Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya won the NYC Marathon in 2:11:01, the first man from Africa to do so. Priscilla Welch of Great Britain won in 2:30:17, while eight-time champion Grete Waitz did not compete.

1988edit

Steve Jones of the United Kingdom won, the first British man to do so, in 2:08:20. Grete Waitz won her ninth and last NYC Marathon in 2:28:07.

1990sedit

1990edit

Douglas Wakiihuri of Kenya won this year's event in 2:12:39, the second-slowest time since 1976 when the marathon became a world class event. Wanda Panfil of Poland was the top woman in 2:30:45. She is the only woman to date from Poland to win this event. Grete Waitz, attempting to win her 10th NYC Marathon, finished fourth in 2:34:34 and then retired from competitive distance running.

1992edit

Grete Waitz completed her last New York Marathon with her friend and race co-founder, Fred Lebow, in celebration of Lebow's 60th birthday. Lebow had been diagnosed with brain cancer and died two years later in 1994. They both completed the race with a time of 5:32:35. Waitz also died of cancer in 2011.

The men's winner of this year's marathon was Willie Mtolo of South Africa in 2:09:29. Lisa Ondieki of Australia was the women's winner in 2:24:40, a course record that would last for nine years.

1994edit

During the 1994 event, Germán Silva recovered from a wrong turn seven-tenths of a mile before the finish that put him temporarily in second place 40 yards behind Benjamín Paredes. He ran a 5:15 final mile, including the detour, to beat Paredes and win the event by two seconds with a time of 2:11:21. The incident earned him the nickname "Wrong Way Silva"^[26]

1995edit

To date, this event was the coldest NYC Marathon ever (1979 was the warmest, topping out at 80 degrees). The temperature at race time was 40 degrees and only went up a few degrees as the race progressed. Wind gusts between 30 and 45 mph produced a wind chill factor in the upper 20s. Both male and female winners repeated their 1994 victories. Germán Silva of Mexico was victorious in 2:11:00. Tegla Loroupe of Kenya won the women's race in 2:28:06. Loroupe had become the first woman from Africa to win the NYC Marathon the previous year.

1997edit

The total number of finishers exceeded 30,000 (30,427) for the first time. John Kagwe of Kenya won the men's race in 2:08:12, while Franziska Rochat-Moser from Switzerland was the first woman in 2:28:43.

2000sedit

2000edit

The 2000 NYC Marathon included the wheelchair division for men and women for the first time. Prize money was added in 2001. Abdelkader El Mouaziz of Morocco won the men's race in 2:10:09, becoming the first Moroccan man to take the title. Lyudmila Petrova of Russia was the first woman in 2:25:45, the first woman from Russia to win the event.

2001edit

The 2001 NYC Marathon took place on November 4, less than two months after the September 11 attacks. Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia set a new course record of 2:07:43, a mark that stood until Geoffrey Mutai broke it in 2011. On the women's side, Margaret Okayo of Kenya won, setting a new course record of 2:24:21. She would set another new record two years later that still stands.

2002edit

The nation of Kenya swept the top three spots in the men's elite race in this year's marathon, the first time in Marathon history that this has occurred. Rodgers Rop won in 2:08:07, while fellow Kenyan Christopher Cheboiboch finished 10 seconds behind in 2:08:17. Laban Kipkemboi of Kenya took third place in 2:08:39. On the women's side, Joyce Chepchumba, also of Kenya, won the women's elite race in 2:25:56. Lyubov Denisova of Russia placed second in 2:26:17 and Esther Kiplagat of Kenya was third in 2:27:00. This was also the first time that Kenyans won both the men's and women's race in marathon history.^[27]

2003edit

A record 34,729 people participated in the race. The top male finisher was Martin Lel of Kenya in a time of 2:10:30. The top female finisher was Margaret Okayo of Kenya in time of 2:22:31, breaking her previous course record of 2:24:21 set in 2001.^[28] In recent years, runners from Kenya have dominated the event. The top Americans were Matt Downin (2:18:48) and Sylvia Mosqueda (2:33:10), both from California. Rapper P.Diddy also ran for charity and raised $2,000,000 for the New York City Education system.

2004edit

The top female finisher was Britain's Paula Radcliffe in a time of 2:23:10, beating Kenya's Susan Chepkemei by 4 seconds, the closest finish up to that time. The men's winner was Hendrik Ramaala of South Africa with a time of 2:09:28. The top Americans were Meb Keflezighi (2nd, 2:09:53) from California and Jenny Crain (15th, 2:41:06), from Wisconsin.^[29]

2005edit

In the closest finish in New York City Marathon history, Paul Tergat of Kenya barely outsprinted Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa in the final meters of the race for a time of 2:09:30, beating Ramaala by one second. In the women's race, Jeļena Prokopčuka of Latvia won in a time of 2:24:41. Top amongst the Americans were Meb Keflezighi of California (2:09:56) and Jen Rhines of California (2:37:07). South African Ernst Van Dyk took the wheelchair race in 1:31:11.

The 2005 event was administered by new NYRR CEO Mary Wittenberg, the first woman director of an international Major marathon.^[30]

2006edit

The top male finisher was Marílson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil in a time of 2:09:58, while Jeļena Prokopčuka of Latvia won the female marathon for the second consecutive time in 2:25:05. Gomes dos Santos became the first South American ever to win the race.^[31] Stephen Kiogora of Kenya placed second, and Paul Tergat, the 2005 defending champion and former marathon world record holder, placed third.

Former American professional road racing cyclist and triathlete Lance Armstrong ran in the 2006 race, finishing 868th with a time of 2:59:36. He also ran the same year in the British 10K. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee also completed the race in 2006, finishing in 5:33:43, and wearing bib #110, signifying the 110 pounds lost during his weight loss campaign.^[32]

Amanda McGrory won the female wheelchair race in a time of 1:54:17, while the male wheelchair division was won by Kurt Fearnley in a time of 1:29:22.

2007edit

The 2007 race was held on Sunday, November 4. It was the final race of the 2006–2007 World Marathon Majors, a two-year series of elite marathon racing that also included the Boston, Chicago, London and Berlin marathons. However, there were very few elite American marathoners participating in 2007 because many had competed the day before at the 2008 USA Men's Olympic Marathon Trials, which was held in conjunction with the New York City Marathon on some of the same course.

Martin Lel from Kenya won the men's race in a time of 2:09:04, completing a double of the 2007 London and New York Marathons. The women's winner was the world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe from Great Britain in a time of 2:23:09, one second faster than her 2004 win.

2008edit

The 2008 New York City Marathon was held on Sunday, November 2. A field of 37,899 runners participated. The men's winner was Marílson Gomes dos Santos in 2:08:43. Paula Radcliffe won her third NYC marathon in 2:23:56.

The 2008 marathon events saw the deaths of three marathon participants. Carlos Jose Gomes, 58, of Brazil fell unconscious shortly after completing the race in 4:12:15. An autopsy revealed that he had a preexisting heart condition and died of a heart attack.^[33] Joseph Marotta, 66, of Staten Island, N.Y. succumbed to a heart attack hours after he completed his fourth New York City Marathon. He walked the course in 9:16:46.^[33] Fred Costa, 41, from Cincinnati, OH collapsed at the marathon and died on November 15 of a heart attack.^[34]

2009edit

The 2009 New York City Marathon was held Sunday November 1, 2009. Meb Keflezighi of the United States won the men's race (the first American winner since Alberto Salazar in 1982) with a time of 2:09:15 while Ethiopian Derartu Tulu took the women's crown in 2:28:52, the first Ethiopian woman to do so. This was the first marathon in history with more than 40,000 official finishers, as 43,660 crossed the finish, 5,053 more than the previous best at the 2008 edition of this race.^[35][36]

2010sedit

2010edit