The most prestigious and popular event on the road running calendar, the New York Marathon will be run on November 6. This 51st edition will mark the return to a certain normality after the cancellation of 2020 and the cramped edition of 2021. But isn’t the golden age now history?
The facade has not moved. Flawless. Irresistible. THE New York Road Runners (NYRR), which organizes the city’s marathon, pushes the sense of detail to its limits. Other major events – from Tokyo to Boston, via London and Berlin – are organized in line, without the slightest hitch being tolerated. But New York is something else again. There is this glamour, the feeling of living in a historic moment. Each in their own way, each and everyone at their own pace. More than 50,000 competitors will set off this year, which notably marks the return of the French, deprived of the race last year, for lack of access to the country. But will the atmosphere be as exuberant as usual?
2012: a dark year that marks a turning point
The first notch in the myth goes back to 2012 and the cancellation on the sly of the event after the passage of the storm Sandy. Dozens of dead, a city partly devastated: Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor at the time, had first said: ” The marathon must take place. It’s a great event for New York. Those who lost their lives would like us to move forward. But the marathon hadn’t happened. Mary Wittenberg, the very charismatic director of the event, losing her position in the case. Above all, the bond between New Yorkers and their meeting on the first Sunday of November seemed to have been stretched. As if the marathon runners, by their mere presence, had thwarted the rescue operations…
25,020 competitors completed the 2021 edition of the New York Marathon
Then came Covid-19. The 2020 edition was canceled, as were almost all running events during the first wave of the pandemic. In November 2021, New York celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reduced tonnage. 33,000 participants (nearly half less than usual) and just over 25,000 finishers. But the main thing, no doubt, was not there. The most populous agglomeration in the United States was all the more affected by the Covid-19 as the political decision of “whatever the cost” advocated in France had not been ratified by the American federal authorities. Leaving a number of companies – craftsmen, traders – but also sports and cultural structures in a quickly untenable situation. New York has suffered and still suffers. The inhabitants who have known three decades of insolent prosperity readily admit that they no longer recognize their city. Poverty is back there with an explosion in the number of homeless people; violence also which upsets the daily lives of citizens who are unused to having to take precautions in their movements and in the places they frequent.
An event renowned for its atmosphere
The city’s marathon owes its reputation in large part to the enthusiasm of the crowd – generally estimated at more than two million – massed throughout the 42.195km (except when crossing the bridges). A rough course or sometimes difficult weather conditions have never deterred those who want to treat themselves to a little moment of eternity. The entry into Manhattan, after the start in Staten Island and the crossings of Brooklyn then Queens, is definitely the most exhilarating moment for a runner. This ascent of the 1time avenue sous les vivas rewards all the efforts made in training and validates, once and for all, the happiness of being a marathon runner. But will there be so many of these enthusiastic New Yorkers, this Sunday, November 6, to applaud athletes from a hundred countries? Not sure.
New York Marathon: a bib at 550€
Thousands of French people take the start of the New York event each year. Like other runners not residing in the United States, they can obtain a bib guarantee as soon as they buy a package from tour operators affiliated with the NYRR (six French companies are in this case). And New York, until recently, sold out months in advance. This is no longer the case today. The main reason being the cost of the proposed formulas. More than €3,000 per person (and often much more) for air travel and accommodation in a single room in a Manhattan hotel. Add to this sum airport taxes, meals, extras and the astronomical cost of the bib set by the organization at 550 euros. The bill therefore easily exceeds 5,000 euros! It will be understood: New York is not for all budgets. Some still agree to make sacrifices, for years, to be able to afford this marathon. But they are fewer and fewer.
MARATHON: OUR FILE TO SUPPORT YOU
Added to this are the uncertainties linked to the health situation (proof of vaccination against Covid-19 is in principle required of competitors by the NYRR) and the consequences of climate change: is it really reasonable to cross the Atlantic by plane to run 42.195km? To this question, many runners now answer in the negative. Without weakening the building. The six so-called major marathons (Tokyo, London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York) have strong backs. It would take much more than a health crisis to challenge their flourishing economic model. And Paris, on a more modest level, confirms the trend: the 42.195km of the big cities attract more and more massive first-time marathon runners. With the consequence of eliminating a number of events that were once firmly established in the calendar – such as Mont-Saint-Michel.
What about the future of the New York Marathon?
Olivier Gaillard, a top marathon runner with a personal best time of 2:31, was registered for the 2012 edition – the one that was canceled due to storm Sandy. He then wanted to celebrate his 30th birthday. It is finally, the 40th that he will celebrate on the asphalt of the Big Apple. Not without some moods. ” I started athletics at the age of 14 and my dream was already to run the New York Marathon. So I will make my dream come true. But I know that I contribute to maintaining a system that I don’t like, which has become a thing for the rich. And running, for me, is not that. Olivier admits: “ It is the consequence of supply and demand. Big marathons are less and less accessible. And to add that he tied up a ten-day family trip, without going through a tour operator. ” I would look at the chrono less than usual. I want to make the most of the race, without hitting the wall in the last ten kilometers to the point of not knowing where I am. The main thing is to discover the city… »
In its defence, the NYRR can assert its community activity, the place it occupies in New York sporting life and its numerous initiatives aimed at populations that are little concerned, for social or cultural reasons, by running. In addition, the organizers of marathons in the United States have far greater costs than in France. Securing the course, managed by the NYPD, is thus billed to the NYRR. For all these reasons, and even if the New York Marathon – notably through generous sponsorship and the income generated in particular by the sale of merchandising – remains a flourishing business, it is difficult to criticize some of the financial decisions taken by the organization. . However, the essential remains: the place that this marathon occupies and will occupy in the calendar and even in the unconscious of runners on the five continents by 2030. This remains difficult to predict. But at a time when air travel is increasingly criticized, especially at a time of a major economic crisis (without even mentioning the persistence of Covid-19 or the conflict in Ukraine), it is possible that the Marathon of New York loses some of its luster. In the hearts of French runners, in any case…
