New York City Marathon Takes New Virtual Form This Year

This past Sunday, October 31st, should have been the 50th running of the famed New York City Marathon. Instead, the world was inundated with the coronavirus pandemic which has canceled just about every event that brings people together in large numbers.

This past Sunday, October 31st, should have been the 50th running of the famed New York City Marathon. Instead, the world was inundated with the coronavirus pandemic which has canceled just about every event that brings people together in large numbers.

Yet, not all was lost. Marathon organizers, the New York Road Runners, decided to at least allow people to have some kind of experience to connect them back to the fun and excitement of the iconic run through the city. Beginning on October 17 people were able to go online and join the marathon by signing up to run the traditional 26.2-mile distance anywhere they wanted to, and anytime during the two-week window leading up to October 31.

The number of participants reached 28,000 from all 50 states and 130 countries. Over 1 out of 5 of those participants were from the New York metropolitan area.

A few people came out to run the traditional route through four of the five boroughs, almost exactly re-creating the route. With a few exceptions, such as not beginning at the Verrazano Bridge but in Brooklyn, runners could re-trace the traditional route from Fourth and Lafayette Avenues, traipsing over the Queensboro Bridge, then running through Manhattan, the Bronx, and zipping over the finish line in Central Park.

Of course, there were no help stations, bottles of water, banners flying high, yelling crowds of cheering fans, but for those who made the run on its home course, there was a bittersweet feeling of sadness filled with hope.

“You feel the spirit of the marathon along the course, and then you feel the loss,” one runner said, remembering leaving the course and crying. “I could also associate the points where I’d see a friend on the course or cheer station where someone would have called out my name.”

For another runner, the finish line elicited the same reaction even without all the extras:

“It was the exact same feeling,” she said. “It was amazing. When I came in from Columbus Circle into the park? I just started crying. The exact same emotions.”