Many of the greatest stars in road racing are coming to New York on March 21 for the NYC Half-Marathon. They’re some of our sport’s finest athletes—Olympic champions and national and world record-holders. But who are they really? Where did they grow up, what do they like to do in their spare time, and what did they do before they became world-class athletes? Some of the answers might surprise you. Take a peek into the lives of some of our leading athletes. Reported and written by veteran athletics journalist David Powell, formerly of the London Times, these profiles offer insight into who these spectacular runners really are.

Running Is Just One of the Many Sides of Famiglietti

New Yorker Anthony Famiglietti is a two-time Olympian, but to define him so narrowly hardly does justice to the breadth of his accomplishments. And if there was a competition to find the world’s most iconoclastic athlete, Famiglietti, who makes his half-marathon debut at the NYC Half on Sunday, March 21, would surely make the final.

Famiglietti has demonstrated talent as a musician, an artist, and even a filmmaker. An alto saxophonist through elementary, middle, and high school, a keen painter who describes himself as “very interested in abstract expressionism,” and the maker of two running films, Famiglietti has a creative streak that extends to sporting a Mohawk haircut at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

On his right forearm is a tattooed quotation from the New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat: PLUSH / SAFE HE THINK. Famiglietti’s interpretation is that too much emphasis is placed on wealth and a materialistic lifestyle that can be snatched away by unforeseen events.
Now aged 31 and living in Knoxville, TN, the psychology major from the University of Tennessee has always thought that he would be more suited to longer distances. He won the 2009 USA 15K title, and the NYC Half will be his longest race to date as he moves toward the marathon.

Famiglietti’s colorful background includes racing at the 2002 USA Track & Field Championships with the ashes of a deceased friend in his shoes and a fight with one of his sisters when he was young in which she broke his nose.

Explaining the ashes story, Famiglietti said: “I friend of mine I grew up with on Long Island was hit by a car. Although he didn’t run, his father was instrumental in getting me running. My friend was artistic and I gravitated to him because he was into arts. The ironic part was that his dad was consumed by running. After my friend passed away, his dad continued to come to my races, and he wanted to sprinkle his ashes in my shoes for encouragement.”

The broken-nose incident, Famiglietti said, was accidental, but he acknowledged: “I grew up with three sisters and an older brother. I used to get in their way a lot. I was a pain in the ass.”

It wasn’t long before his talents as an artist came to the fore. He held a show of his work in 2003 but found that art and running were colors that did not mix.

“I’m really creative between midnight and 5:00 a.m., but I can’t do that because I have a workout the next day,” Famiglietti said. “To become a great runner you have to put other things aside.”

Famiglietti has still found time, though, to produce two films. Run Like Hell is a biopic. “It’s about how I got started running and went from a mediocre runner to a two-time Olympian,” he said. Run Reckless is a motivational documentary.

He keeps his hand in musically, too. “I have moved more toward producing music on the computer,” Famiglietti said. He composes music to run to and is keen to write something that hits the pace of a 3:59 mile.

Race Coverage

Pro Athletes

Beyond the Stats

Other