From Crains New York:
New York Road Runners adds Olympic-style events to build on its $340 million in economic activity and tout the sport.
By Lisa Fickenscher
The Big Apple may not have won its bid to host the 2012 Olympics, but its ING New York City Marathon is fast becoming Olympian in its pageantry.
New York Road Runners, which organizes the 26.2-mile race on the first Sunday of every November, is amping up this year's edition, turning it into a three-day extravaganza.
Two days before the Nov. 6 race, for the first time in the competition's 42-year history, there will be a Parade of Nations ceremony, featuring runners from nearly 50 different countries carrying their flags. NYRR is also establishing a Hall of Fame and will induct its first two members on that Friday. The day's program will include fireworks in Central Park and an international culinary event called Taste of Travel.
The Olympic theme will continue on Nov. 5 with a 3.1-mile race starting near the United Nations and featuring past marathon medalists—including Deena Kastor—as well as Olympic hopefuls.
The initiatives are part of a larger effort by the Road Runners to expand the marquee event into the broadest possible advertisement for the sport, while continuing to transform the race into an economic and fundraising powerhouse.
“We are the annual Super Bowl in New York,” said NYRR Chief Executive Mary Wittenberg.
The marathon generated $340 million in economic activity for the city last year, drawing 2 million spectators and more than 45,000 runners, according to a study that its organizers commissioned earlier this year. At least half of the runners come from abroad, bringing family members with them in many cases, and staying here for an average of six nights.
This year, about 47,000 runners—out of 140,000 applicants—are signed up for the race.
Celebrities line up
The list of notables competing includes former New York Rangers captain Mark Messier; speed skater Apolo Ohno, an Olympic gold medalist; model Christy Turlington Burns; and restaurateur Joe Bastianich.
Even some local politicos are taking up the challenge. Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott will run his first marathon, while the city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, will race in his 17th—his fourth in New York.
The new prerace events represent a “significant investment,” said Ms. Wittenberg, who enlisted local celebrity restaurateur Danny Meyer to cater them. “We take the attitude, 'Build it first, and they will come,' “ said Ms. Wittenberg, who would not divulge the expansion's cost.
NYRR hopes to eventually sell the television rights to the Parade of Nations and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. WNBC holds the broadcast rights to the race.
Ms. Wittenberg is also looking for a permanent home for the Hall of Fame, which would be part of a larger international running center—most likely in Harlem near Central Park.
“That area is a great fit for us, and we hope to have outposts in the other boroughs as well,” she said.
Community outreach is a big focus for the organization, which has running programs at 400 of the city's 1,700 public schools. Ms. Wittenberg is hiring two additional staffers to develop relationships with more schools.
The first inductees to the Hall of Fame are likely to be two legendary runners associated with the marathon: the late Fred Lebow, co-founder of NYRR, and Norwegian star Grete Waitz, nine-time winner of the women's competition, who died in April of cancer. Her widower, Jack Waitz, and other family members are running this year's race in her honor.
Charitable fundraising has become a big part of the event in recent years. Last year, 8,000 runners raised $30 million for nearly 200 charities. About $20 million of that went to New York City programs.
New app tracks runners
The race has become a showcase, too, for the latest in social media. This year, NYRR partnered with MapMyRun, a website with a mobile geo-locator app that pinpoints the location of runners, so their family and friends can track their progress over the course. Using this technology, businesses, such as restaurants, can send an alert when a runner is near their location.
Even as NYRR gears up for this year's race, Ms. Wittenberg is looking ahead to next year. ING's 10-year sponsorship contract is up in 2013. The financial services company was the marathon's first title sponsor, but it will likely not be the last.
Reupping with ING or finding a new sponsor will be a major undertaking for the running group. The partnership with ING has provided a positive starting point.
“Our relationship,” said Ms. Wittenberg, “has been a great example of a good partnership.”
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