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First Race
For the first time an official NYC Marathon was run. Only 55 runners finished, the winning time being 2 hrs.: 31 min.: 38 sec., but the event greatly promoted running and began to draw larger crowds. -
Lebow Redraws Course
The course is redrawn to incorporate all six boroughs of New York City, leading to world-wide attention. The New course attracted many famous runners, including Frank Shorter, and brought thousands of spectators to the course. -
Grete Waitz Sets Record
Grete Waitz set the world women's marathon record, 2:32:30, with a field of 9,000 participants. This set a precedent that records would be consistantly broken, drawing larger crowds and more participants. -
Bill Rogers Wins Fourth Straight Race
Bill Rogers won his fourth straight race, the most by any male competitor to date. This reinforced the running revolution of the 1970's and drew more attention to the race in the 1980's. -
Grete Waitz Wins Ninth Race
Over an eleven year span Waitz did not win the race but twice, setting several world records in the process. With this recognition the race grew to be the largest in thte world, attracting nearly every elite runner in the world. -
Tegla Loroupe Wins Race
Becoming the first Kenyan woman to win a major marathon, Loroupe created many new opportunities for Kenyan runners, leading to invitations to many international running events. -
First Wheelchair Race
For the first time the NYC Marathon incorporated a wheelchair race, attracting more tha ntwo-hundred participants. This led to increased disability rights advocation that is aided by the race efforts. -
Two Million+ Spectators
After 9/11 citizens drew together ina time of healing as th American national running team had many top finishers. This created a sense of unity surrounding the race, increasing future attendance. -
40th Running of Race
With one of the most elite fields of runners in the race's hstory, record crowds gathered throughout New York. This year the three wave start was instituted, accomidating more runners than ever before. -
Mutai Leads Largest Pack Ever
Geoffrey Mutai led the largest field ever, 47,000 participants, running a time of 2:05:05. This points towards even higher future attendecs for the race.
