On this day in New York · September 13, 1970
The First New York City Marathon
A volunteer firefighter paid a dollar, ran four hot loops of Central Park, and became the answer to the city's favorite trivia question.
The facts
- Date
- September 13, 1970
- Course
- Four laps entirely inside Central Park, totaling 26.2 miles
- Field
- 127 runners started, 55 finished
- Entry fee
- $1, on a total race budget of about $1,000
- Winning time
- 2:31:38
On September 13, 1970, the New York City Marathon began life as a scrappy, homemade race that never left Central Park. Fred Lebow and the New York Road Runners ran the whole thing on a budget of about $1,000, funded mostly by a $1 entry fee, with volunteers marking the course and handing out water. Only 127 runners started four 6.2 mile loops around the park, and just 55 finished. Gary Muhrcke, a New York City firefighter who had come straight off a night shift, won in 2:31:38, and Nina Kuscsik, the race's only woman entrant, dropped out at 15 miles due to illness. Nobody watching that thin, sweaty finish line could have guessed it would grow into the biggest marathon on earth.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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On September 13, 1970, Gary Muhrcke won the first New York City Marathon held in Central Park in 2:31:38.
Wikipedia's New York City Marathon article, recounting the 1970 race
Source: Wikipedia -
Only about 100 spectators watched Gary Muhrcke win the race in 2:31:38.
Wikipedia's New York City Marathon article, recounting the 1970 race
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
That dollar-entry, park-bound race is the direct ancestor of today's five-borough New York City Marathon, the largest marathon in the world, run every November by roughly 50,000 people who owe their start line to a firefighter and a shoestring budget.
Sources
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