The New York City Marathon (branded ING New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon (42.195 km/26.219 mi) that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 45,103 finishers in 2010. Along with the Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon, it is among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States and is one of the World Marathon Majors.
The race is organized by New York Road Runners (NYRR) and, with the exception of 2012, has been run every year since 1970. In recent years, it has been sponsored by the financial group ING. It is held on the first Sunday of November and attracts professional competitors and amateurs from all over the world. Because of the popularity of the race, participation is chosen largely by a lottery system. Runners who are members of NYRR can gain entry by meeting the qualifications for guaranteed entry or via nomination from an official running club.
Famous quotes containing the words york, city and/or marathon:
“The New York action painters want their pictures to jump off the walls and chase you down the street.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Not to find one’s way in a city may well be uninteresting and banal. It requires ignorance—nothing more. But to lose oneself in a city—as one loses oneself in a forest—that calls for a quite different schooling. Then, signboard and street names, passers-by, roofs, kiosks, or bars must speak to the wanderer like a cracking twig under his feet in the forest.”
—Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)
“In their eyes I have seen
the pin men of madness in marathon trim
race round the track of the stadium pupil.”
—Patricia K. Page (b. 1916)