Our History
Our history is rich because we run with passion. It all started with a local running club made up of just 40 people, but over the past 60+ years, committed runners have joined us in droves. Time, commitment, and our never-ending mission to help and inspire people through running have led us to become the world’s premier community running organization.
Hall of Fame
Since 2011, NYRR has been proud to honor the runners who have continually raised the bar, both on and off the race course.
Grete Waitz
A Life in the Lead
Fred Lebow
World-Changing Visionary
Miki Gorman
Ahead of Her Time
Nina Kuscsik
Paving the Way
New York City Marathon History
The first New York City Marathon took place in 1970 and was held entirely in Central Park and had 127 entrants and 55 finishers. In 2019 over 53,000 participants crossed the finish line. The Virtual TCS New York City Marathon in 2020 had thousands of finishers around the globe, and over 25,000 finished the marathon's 50th running in person in 2021. We're excited to continue to build back in the years to come.