This is a milestone year for the New York City Marathon: Sunday’s race will be the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course, which was first run in 1976. From its inaugural year in 1970, the race was held in Central Park. But five men—Ted Corbitt, Fred Lebow, George Spitz, Percy Sutton, and George Hirsch—spearheaded an effort to change the course to run through each of the city’s five boroughs, starting in Staten Island and ending in Manhattan.
Only one of the “trailblazers,” as the New York Road Runners calls them, is still alive. At 92, George Hirsch has seen the NYC Marathon develop from a fringe race in Central Park to the largest marathon in the world. A longtime magazine publisher (including at Runner’s World), Hirsch was the chairman of the NYRR board of directors from 2004 to 2023, and he helped generate the initial media buzz and funds for the 1976 race.
In an interview in mid-October, Hirsch shared his memories of the early days of the five-borough race and reflected on how it’s evolved over a half century. The mid-1970s were a tough time to live in New York City. Crime was high, the economy was struggling, and thousands of residents fled for the suburbs.
The city needed a pick-me-up, according to Hirsch. When Hirsch first heard the idea for a multi-borough race from Corbitt and Spitz, his immediate thought was that it would be a massive undertaking. Bridges would need to be closed, police hired, funds raised.
Still, the pioneers were able to secure the backing of the mayor, Abe Beame, although it was not pitched as a recurring event. Now, they just needed to execute their idea. That quickly changed, as he descended the bridge into Brooklyn.
But by those days’ standards, it was extraordinary. And that was the way it was for our entire run.” Hirsch ran 2:49:29 that day, placing 156th out of 1,539 finishers. Bill Rodgers won the men’s race, and Miki Gorman was the top woman.
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