Facts About 'Notting Hill' That Are Standing in Front of You. Thousands of runners will converge on New York City to race the New York City Marathon on Sunday. Here’s everything you need to know about Gotham’s most iconic road race. THE RACE'S MASTERMIND JUST WANTED TO IMPROVE HIS TENNIS GAME. When Fred Lebow first laced up his shoes, he didn’t set out to help turn distance running into a national craze. He just wanted to up his stamina when he played tennis. He fell in love with running, though, and in 1.
Central Park. With a total budget of $1. Lebow’s own pocket—Lebow gathered a small pack of runners to pound 2. September 1. 3, 1.
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THAT FIRST GROUP STRUGGLED A BIT. Lebow’s first race featured a field of 1. Gary Muhrcke won the first race with a time of 2: 3. Muhrcke’s feat is all the more impressive because he had worked the previous night as a firefighter in Far Rockaway, Queens.
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In 2. 00. 9 he told Runner’s World that he was tired and nearly bagged the race entirely: “I had called my wife at about 8: 3. You know, I don't really want to go [to Central Park], I think I'm going to come home and take it easy.’ I don't want to run a marathon on September 1. I heard a disappointment in her voice, because we had three little children. I said, ‘Alright, we'll go, let's go, pick me up, we'll go.’" 3. ONLY ONE WOMAN COMPETED IN THE FIRST EVENT.
The vast majority of those first 1. In fact, there was only one woman in the race! She became ill during the run and never crossed the finish line. 4.
A REVOLUTION BEGAN TWO YEARS LATER. Why were there so few women in that first race? Blame running’s old governing body, the Amateur Athletic Union. The AAU had long banned women from running marathons; Runner’s World noted that part of the justification for this ban came from junk science that indicated female distance runners were prone to infertility. In 1. 97. 1, the AAU agree to allow women to run the distance if their race start was staggered 1.
The plan for the 1. However, when the women’s gun sounded, instead of taking off, the six runners—led by Boston Marathon champ Nina Kuscsik—sat down on the starting line.
For 1. 0 minutes, they held signs jeering the AAU with slogans like “Hey AAU, this is 1. Wake up.” When the gun sounded for the men’s race to begin, the women got up and ran. The protest cost them a 1. Last year, more than 2.
New York City Marathon. 5. THE RACE VENTURED OUT OF CENTRAL PARK IN 1.
The United States celebrated its bicentennial in 1. George Spitz. Spitz thought that taking the race out of its looping course in Central Park and running it through all five of the city’s boroughs would be a great way to harness some local pride. He had run the Boston Marathon, and he reportedly asked his friends, “If Boston can have a marathon on the city roads, why not New York?” Spitz doggedly worked to get the support of Mayor Abraham D. Beame and raised the funds necessary to close down the streets. That first cross- city race was a smashing success, and the course has passed through all five boroughs ever since. 6. IT'S GOTTEN QUITE A BIT MORE EXPENSIVE. The entry fee for the 1.
It’s safe to say the price has outpaced inflation in the last several decades. U. S. residents running in the 2.
THE SPOILS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER, TOO. When your entry fee is just a buck, you can’t afford to be too lavish with the race prizes. According to race organizers, the top runners in 1.
It’s gotten a little richer since then. For this year’s race, the total prize purse is $8. WHEELCHAIR RACERS GOT THEIR OWN DIVISION IN 2. The 2. 00. 0 race marked the first year that wheelchair racers had their own formal, competitive division following 2. That first formal race went to Kamel Ayari in a time of 1: 5. The current course record belongs to Australian Kurt Fearnley, who roared through all five boroughs in 1: 2.
THE FIELD HAS GROWN OVER THE YEARS. Lebow only found 1. Watch In The Cut 4Shared here. RUNNERS RAISE A SERIOUS PILE OF MONEY FOR CHARITY.
Many runners are doing more than just getting in a good workout—they’re also raising money for a good cause. The 2. 01. 4 running of the marathon helped raise a record $3. One of these charities is named for Lebow, who passed away in 1. Since 1. 99. 5, the charity that bears his name, Fred’s Team, has raised more than $7. New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. 1. THE RACE HAS ONLY BEEN CANCELED ONCE. Since 1.
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg initially insisted that the race would go on as planned before pressure from other local leaders led him to cancel the marathon. Some disappointed runners gathered in Central Park to run their own unsanctioned race, while others volunteered to visit hard- hit Staten Island to lend a hand to recovery efforts.