Uniquely NYC
Five Borough Marathon
The first NYC Marathon took place in 1970. It was a modest affair that
looped a few times around the Central Park. It attracted 127
participants who paid a $1 entry fee. Only 55 of them crossed the finish
line.
Six years later the course of the Marathon was redrawn to include all
five boroughs - Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Manhattan,
thanks to the vision of Fred Lebow, one of the Marathon co-founders.
Today, the NYC Marathon is the biggest event in the world of its kind.
It is a unique combination of athletic and community spirits as two
million New Yorkers line up the city streets to cheer on and support the
runners. The Marathon's ever growing popularity and international media
attention draws some of the world's top runners. The event not just
tests the limits of human endurance. As its course runs through all five
boroughs of NYC, the participants get to see its spectacular skyline
views, cultural diversity of its neighborhoods and some of the famous
city bridges.
Roughly 40 percent of runners get selected each year from over 100,000
applicants. The lucky runners are selected in random lottery drawings.
However, runners can still have a guaranteed entry if they meet certain
criteria -; have completed qualifying races, chose to run for charity or
with an International Travel Partner, or have been denied an entry for
the prior three years.
In 2000, an official wheelchair division was added to the Marathon. It
has developed into one of the most competitive marathons in the world to
attract wheelchair, handcycle and a wide variety of ambulatory athletes
with disabilities.
The NYC Marathon is also a part of the World Marathon Majors series. The
World Marathon Majors consist, besides New York, of the city marathons
in Boston, Chicago, Berlin and London, and of the World Championships
and Olympic Games marathons.
In 2012, the NYC Marathon was cancelled by Mayor Bloomberg because of
the devastation to the region from Hurricane Sandy.
In 2013, the race was back in action and included a new world record
number of starters: 50,740 and finishers: 50,224.
In 2016, there was a new record number of finishers: 51,388.
In 2017, 139 countries were represented by the 51,307 runners that
started the race. Of those runners, 50,766 people made it to the finish
line.