The most prestigious and popular event on the road running calendar, the New York City Marathon, will take place on November 6th. 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 City Street Runners (NYRR), which organizes the city marathon, pushes the sense of detail to the limit. Other major events – from Tokyo to Bostonvia London and Berlin – are organized online, without the slightest hiccup being tolerated. But New York is something else again. There’s this glamour, the feeling of living in a historical moment. Each in his own way, each at his 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 due to lack of access to the country. But will the atmosphere be exuberant as usual?
2012: a dark year that marks a turning point
The first notch in the myth dates back to 2012 and the quiet cancellation of the event after the passage of Storm Sandy. Dozens of dead, a city partly devastated: Michael Bloomberg, then mayor, was the first to say: ” The marathon must take place. It’s a big event for New York. Those who lost their lives would like us to carry on. But the marathon was not there. Mary Wittenberg, the very charismatic director of the event, loses her job in the case. Above all, the bond between New Yorkers and their meeting on the first Sunday in November seemed to have lengthened. As if the marathon runners, with their mere presence, had thwarted the rescue operations…
25,020 competitors completed the 2021 edition of the NYC Marathon
Then came the Covid-19. The 2020 edition has been cancelled, as have almost all the events taking place during the first wave of the pandemic. In November 2021 New York celebrated its 50th anniversary with a reduced tonnage. 33,000 participants (almost half less than usual) and just over 25,000 finalists. But the main thing, undoubtedly, was not there. The most populous agglomeration in the United States has been all the more affected by Covid-19 as the political decision of “whatever the cost” advocated in France had not been ratified by the American federal authorities. Leaving a series of companies – artisans, merchants – but also sports and cultural facilities in a rapidly unsustainable situation. New York has suffered and still suffers. Residents who have known three decades of brash prosperity readily admit that they no longer recognize their city. Poverty returned there with an explosion in the number of homeless people; violence that also disrupts the daily life of citizens who are not used to having to take precautions when traveling and in the places they frequent.
An event renowned for its atmosphere
The city marathon owes its notoriety in large part to the enthusiasm of the crowds – generally estimated at more than two million – amassed along the 42.195 km (except when crossing bridges). A bumpy journey or sometimes difficult weather conditions have never discouraged those who want to treat themselves to a small moment of eternity. Entering Manhattan, after leaving Staten Island and crossing Brooklyn and then Queens, is certainly the most exciting moment for a runner. This ascent of 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 so many of these enthusiastic New Yorkers be cheering on athletes from a hundred countries this Sunday, November 6? I’m not sure.
New York Marathon: a bib for €550
Thousands of French people take the start of the New York event every year. Like other non-US residents, they can get a bib warranty as soon as they buy a package by NYRR-affiliated tour operators (in this case, six French companies). And New York, until recently, sold out months in advance. Today that is no longer the case. The main reason is the cost of the proposed formulas. More than 3,000 euros per person (and often much more) for air travel and overnight stays in a single room in a Manhattan hotel. To this sum are added airport taxes, meals, extras and the astronomical cost of the bib set by the organization at 550 euros. The bill then 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 less and less.
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Added to this are the uncertainties related 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: it is really reasonable to cross the Atlantic by plane to run 42,195 km ? Many runners now answer this question in the negative. Without weakening the building. The six so-called big marathons (Tokyo, London, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York) have strong shoulders. It would take more than a health crisis to challenge their burgeoning economic model. And Paris, at a more modest level, confirms the trend: the 42.195 km of the big cities attract more and more novice marathon runners. With the consequence of doing disappear a number of events once firmly established in the calendar – such as the Mont-Saint-Michel.
And the future of the New York Marathon?
Olivier Gaillard, a top marathon runner with a personal best of 2:31, was registered for the 2012 edition, the one canceled due to storm Sandy. He then wanted to celebrate his thirtieth birthday. It is finally the 40th that he will celebrate on the asphalt of the Big Apple. Not without some moods. ” I started athletics when I was 14 and my dream was already to run the NYC marathon. So I will make my dream come true. But I know that I help maintain a system that I don’t like, that has become a thing for the rich. And running, for me, is not that. Oliver admits: “ It is the consequence of supply and demand. The big marathons are less and less accessible. And to add that she organized a ten-day family trip, without going through a tour operator. ” I would watch 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 where I don’t know where I am. The important thing is to discover the city… »
In its defense, NYRR can rely on its community activity, its place in New York sporting life, and its many initiatives aimed at populations with little interest, for social or cultural reasons, in running. Also, marathon organizers in the United States have much higher costs than in France. Course securing, handled by the NYPD, is then billed to the NYRR. For all of these reasons, and even though the NYC Marathon – particularly through generous sponsorships and the revenue generated in particular from merchandise sales – remains a thriving business, it is hard to fault some of the financial decisions the organization has made. . However, the essential remains: the place that this marathon occupies and will occupy in the calendar and also in the unconscious of runners from five continents by 2030. This remains difficult to predict. But at a time when air travel is increasingly criticised, especially at a time of great economic crisis (not even mentioning the persistence of Covid-19 or the conflict in Ukraine), it is possible that the New York Marathon will lose part of the its luster. In the heart of French riders, in any case…
