50 Years Of 5 Boroughs: The Story Of The 1976 New York City Marathon

Fifty years ago, 2,000 runners lined up for the first five-borough New York City Marathon. The city was on the brink of bankruptcy. Nobody knew if spectators would show up. The race was supposed to be a one-time bicentennial celebration.

In this special episode of the CITIUS MAG Podcast, George Hirsch (chairman emeritus of New York Road Runners) takes us inside the decisions, personalities and unlikely bets that made it happen. We revisit how Ted Corbitt, George Spitz, Percy Sutton, the Rudin family and Fred Lebow helped bring the race to life, and how Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers gave it star power.

Along the way: secret appearance fees, Rodgers’s borrowed soccer shorts, unexpected crowds and a decades-old debate over stairs that may or may not have happened.

It’s the story of how New Yorkers took a chance on their city and created a race that changed marathoning forever.

Produced by: Chris Chavez of CITIUS MAG + Joe Kaiser and Remo Wakeford of Three Piece Films

Special thanks: George Hirsch and Bill Rodgers for their time, and for remembering it all, give or take a staircase. Additional thanks to New York Road Runners for their help with archival photos and videos.

Music: Artlist.

The Marathon Book: If you liked this story, there are a lot more like it in my upcoming book, The Marathon Book. Follow @themarathonbook on Instagram for updates, including when the pre-order link goes live.