55 athletes finished the four laps of central park to complete the first New York City Marathon in 1970. Now, after more than 30 years, people from more than 100 countries, who speak over 40 languages, line up to run through the five boroughs to complete this annual event with 30,000+ participants. In this 30 minute video from 1991 you will have the opportunity to see much of the course and relive some of the rich history of athletes who have excelled in the New York City Marathon.
You will get glimpses of the three start areas at the Varrazano-Narrows Bridge, travel through 11 miles of Brooklyn, and progress over the Queensboro bridge to enter Manhattan. The 20-mile mark is reached in the Bronx, and complete the last 3 miles in and around Central Park, ending at Tavern on the Green. Computer graphics outline the course at the start to provide an orientation and feel for the elevation changes, especially the climb over the first 1.5 miles. There are many scenes of the masses of runners from helicopters. A tip is offered by host Marty Liquori for the downhill from miles 16 to 20, "Enjoy the crowds, take in the scene, but by all means conserve your energy; there is still lots of running to be done."
Marty Liquori introduces some of the greatest athletes and battles over this course from the mid 1970's to the late 1980's. Some of the featured milestones include:
Bill Rodgers Three time winner from 1976 to 1979 with a best of 2:10:10 on this course. "Running represents something where there are no barriers. We don't need someone else's ok, it just represents, I think, a lot of ways for people to push themselves. The marathon is an ultimate event where people can find out."
Allison Roe: The 1981 winner from New Zealand who established a World's Record of 2:25:29. "The atmosphere was just electric. I remember basically my mind powering my way through that part and really didn't feel anything until I stopped".
Alberto Salazar: This confident runner from Oregon won three years in a row (1980-1982) with a World's Best of 2:08:14 in 1981. He describes his race strategy in the 1982 battle with Rodolfo Gomez from Mexico: "The last four miles I throw a lot of surges". Salazar finally pulls away for the victory.
Grete Waitz: Race director Fred Lebow invited her to run this race, longer than any distance she had previously run. She won the New York City Marathon nine times between 1978 and 1988 setting a world's records on her first outing in 2:32:29 and again the following two years. "I remember that the first thing I said to him (Lebow), 'This is the first and last time I run the marathon ever again. So that was my first experience running the marathon'."
Ron Dixon: The 1983 duel with Geoff Smith is featured. "I decided that the only way I was going to get any recognition was to go out there and see if I could run a marathon. And of course, that's what I did, and in 2:08:59 I suddenly was recognized after running for about 16 years.
In addition to the athletes and course there is also some coverage of the application process, the international breakfast run of two miles that has 10,000 participants, the pasta party, volunteers in action, and the participation from the Achilles Track Club athletes. This film was produced by Ambrose Salmini and and was at one time distributed through his site, Sport Film.com, in either VHS or DVD format. This marathon is the featured event of the New York Road Runner's Club and after you watch this film you may want to go to their official web site to see about the lottery process to apply to run in the New York City Marathon. You may purchase this production in either VHS or DVD format fromSportfilm.com.
