A deep dive into the NYC marathon

The first New York City Marathon was held in September 1970 with only 127 (almost exclusively male) competitors racing loops around Central Park in front of a crowd of just 100 spectators. In honor of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, the course was expanded to traverse through the city’s five boroughs, a tradition which continues to this day.

• And the marathon grew exponentially from there, ultimately becoming the largest marathon in the world, averaging about 50K participants annually and nearly 2M in-person spectators. Doing it big in the Big Apple.

Only one woman entered the inaugural NYC Marathon in 1970, despite an official ban by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) on women participating in marathons from 1961 to 1972.

• Even after the ban was lifted, there was still a catch in NYC: amateur women had to start either 10 minutes before or 10 minutes after the men to ensure they weren’t running the same race. Masculinity is so delicate.

In protest of this so-called “separate-but-equal” race, six women sat down at the starting line for 10 minutes, then stood up and began their race with the men. The AAU got the message and dropped the separate start times soon after.

• Two years later, friend of The GIST Kathrine Switzer won the event, seven years after becoming the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967.

Thanks to these trailblazers, more women are running now than ever before. In fact, over 44% of finishers last year were women. So much for being “fragile.”

Today’s journey will see runners traverse lengthy bridges and steep hills. Here are some key points to watch along the famed course:

Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, Mile 1: Let’s start at the very beginning. The first of five bridges throughout the route, the Verrazzano offers iconic views but is also tactically important as runners must fight the urge to hustle up and down the hill out of excitement and instead conserve energy for the ~25 miles to come.

Queensboro Bridge, Mile 15: This is one of the most challenging sections of the race due to both the gradual incline on the bridge and the eerie lack of spectators — a stark contrast to the choruses of cheers over the first stretch. Luckily, a downhill and a roaring crowd in Manhattan awaits on the other side…

Central Park, Mile 23: The home stretch. Runners enter the world-famous park from the northeast corner, racing through it for just over three miles before reaching Tavern on the Green, the same landmark runners crossed at the finish line of the original course.

Today’s elite field is, quite simply, stacked. Featuring a reigning Olympic champ, previous NYC Marathon winners, and plenty of other speedsters, blink and you might miss them:

🇰🇪 Hellen Obiri, Kenya: The Paris Olympics bronze medalist (despite falling twice and missing aid stations), is back to defend her title after a thrilling sprint to reach the top of the podium in 2023, a victory that made her the first woman in 34 years to win both the Boston and NYC Marathons in the same calendar year.

• And history could repeat itself: Obiri already cruised to a first-place finish in Boston back in April. Do you get déjà vu?

🇰🇪 Sharon Lokedi, Kenya: Lokedi’s no stranger to reaching the podium in NYC — she placed first in 2022 (her marathon debut, no less!), then followed it up with a third-place finish last year. With a personal best time of 2:23:14 and a fourth-place Olympic showing behind her, expect to see her at the front of the pack once again today.

🇺🇸 Dakotah Popehn (née Lindwurm), USA: Fresh off an impressive 12th-place finish in Paris, Popehn is America’s best hope at a podium appearance in NYC. After a smile-filled Olympic debut, expect another joyful run on the streets of New York.

🇪🇹 Tamirat Tola, Ethiopia: Tola wasn’t on the original Ethiopian Olympic team but he clearly took that personally, cruising to a Games record on the challenging course after slotting in as an injury replacement. And he certainly has a knack for breaking records: He set the NYC course record when he won in 2023.

🇰🇪 Evans Chebet, Kenya: 2022 champ Chebet boasts the fastest personal best time in the field and will make his return to the course after missing the 2023 race due to an Achilles injury. And his motivation will be at an all-time high after a narrow third-place finish at the 2024 Boston Marathon in April.

🇺🇸 Conner Mantz, USA: Mantz will make his NYC Marathon debut alongside his Paris teammate, Clayton Young, after the pals finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in their first Olympic outings. Can’t wait to see the Strava caption for this run.