There were fewer runners than usual this year (around 30,000, instead of 50,000+), and an additional wave was added at the start to reduce crowding along on the course, but that didn’t stop the city from turning out in rowdy fashion yesterday for the 50th running of the NYC Marathon.
Amir Figueroa of Harlem Run House was so excited the Marathon was back, that after running the race he joined a big crowd of spectators near Marcus Garvey Park. "I finished in 3:22 and I feel great," he said, "so I wanted to come back out and cheer everybody on." Figueroa told us this was his fourth NYC Marathon, and it felt great to be back — "So many people were cheering, in all the boroughs, there was just a lot of energy, and I'm really happy that long distance running is back."
Most of the 30,000 runners were just happy to be out there again, but the Marathon is also a highly competitive race—Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya won the women's race, Albert Korir, also of Kenya, won the men's. In the wheelchair races, Marcel Hug of Switzerland took his fourth men’s title, and the Aussie Madison de Rozario won the women’s wheelchair race for the first time.
There were plenty of unofficial winners on Marathon Sunday, too — including the hundreds of thousands of people who lined the streets throughout the 26.2-mile course and turned the race into a massive celebration. There was loud music everywhere, lots of screaming and cowbells and banging on pots and pans, goofy signs, giddy hugs, little kids getting high fives, and just good vibes all around (as you can see in these photos, taken in Bay Ridge, Gowanus, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Williamsburg, Harlem, and Central Park).
"The Marathon's back," Stephen Langon told us in Bay Ridge, where he was holding a sign that read: Yo, Welcome to Brooklyn USA. "My dad probably made this sign 15 years ago," he said. "Unfortunately, he passed away in March, but I couldn't not come out here and put up his sign. My siblings aren't here, my neighbors aren't here, but I knew I had to go to Bay Ridge and put this up. I know Pop would like it."
And now, let's revisit this Jeff Seal classic:
