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The New York City Marathon is an annual marathon foot-race run over a 26.2 mile course through the five boroughs of New York City. Next to the Boston Marathon, it is considered the pre-eminent long-distance annual running event in the United States.

The race is produced by the New York Road Runners and has been run every year since 1970. In recent years, it has also been sponsored by financial giant 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 limited to 35,000 entrants chosen by a lottery system, with preference given to previous participants.

The course

The course begins in Staten Island near the approach to the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The bridge, which normally carries only vehicular traffic, is closed for the event. In the opening minutes of the race, the bridge is filled with runners, creating a dramatic spectacle that is closely associated with the event.

The course winds through Brooklyn and Queens, crosses the East River on the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. It then proceeds north on First Avenue, crosses briefly into the Bronx over the Harlem River before returning to Manhattan. It then proceeds south through Harlem and into Central Park and terminates near Tavern on the Green.

2005

The top male finisher was Paul Tergat of Kenya in a time of 2:09:30, while Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia won the female marathon in a time of 2:24:41. Tops amongst the Americans were Meb Keflezighi of California (2:09:56) and Jen Rhines of California (2:37:07). South African Ernst Van Dyk took the wheelchair race in 1:31:11.

2004

The top female finisher was Britain's Paula Radcliffe in a time of 2:23:10, beating Kenya's Susan Chepkemei by 4 seconds. The top male was Hendrik Ramaala of South Africa with a time of 2:09:28.

2003

A record 34,729 people participated in the race.

The top male finisher was Martin Lel of Kenya in a time of 2:10:30. The top female finisher was Margaret Okayo of Kenya in time of 2:22:31, breaking her previous course record of 2:24:21 set in 2001. In recent years, runners from Kenya have dominated the event.

The top Americans were Matt Downin (2:18:48) and Sylvia Mosqueda (2:33:10), both of California.

1979

In a normally trivial mistake, runner Rosie Ruiz was accidentally given a finish time of 2:56:29. This qualified her for the 1980 Boston Marathon, where she crossed the finish line with a record time of 2:31:56. It was quickly determined that she had not run the full course in either race, igniting the most well-known scandal in the history of modern distance running. New York Marathon chief Fred Lebow rescinded Ruiz' time after determining she had not finished the 1979 race, and officials in Boston quickly followed suit.

Scott Black, age 9, became the youngest runner to ever complete the Marathon, with a time of 4:24. The following year, the race's organizers changed the minimum age requirement to 18.

See also

• List of winners of the New York City Marathon

External links

• Official NYC Marathon Training site
• New York City Marathon Site
• New York Road Runner site
• Official sponsor site with most recent results
• Top finishers by year
• The largest charity team of New York City Marathon runners
• New York City Marathon Photos-2005

• Marathons
• Sports in New York City
• New York City culture