NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- This weekend marks the 50th running of the New York City Marathon.
Known as one of the world’s greatest sporting events, it didn’t originally start out that way.
On this week’s episode of 880 In Depth, we go all the way back to the first lap and speak with one of the race’s co-founders, George Hirsch.
He says that each year, for some reason, whatever day the race falls on is usually “the best day in the life of [the] city.”
Hirsch chronicles the exponential growth of the race. He also explains whether it’ll have any hurdles to cross in the future.
Post COVID and any other hardships, he says, “I think it’s going to be important that the city has something that it can rally around and embrace."
Additionally we speak with one of the participants from that inaugural 1970 race, Ralph Garfield. The 86-year-old New Jersey resident thinks the event is something profound that all New Yorkers should experience.
He said, “I think it’s wonderful that the marathon [goes] through all five boroughs and that many of the runners get to see parts of New York, which they otherwise wouldn’t see.”
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