New York HERE I COME :o)

I got into the New York City Marathon...woohoo. The only way to get into the New York City Marathon is to enter a lottery. This year they had over 90,000 people enter and I got picked. I am so excited. I will not be running the race this year though, I am going to wait until 2007. Because I got in this year I have a guaranteed entry to next years race. I still have to pay the fee this year and next year but it'll be worth it. I can't wait. There were a few of us who signed up for the lottery but only 2 of us got in :o( boo, hoo. We are hoping though that the rest get in next year so that we can all train and do the race together.

The ING New York City Marathon The premier event of New York Road Runners, the ING New York City Marathon is one of the world's great road races, drawing more than 85,000 applicants. The race attracts many world-class professional athletes, not only for the more than $500,000 in prize money, but also for the chance to excel in the media capital of the world before two million cheering spectators and 260 million worldwide television viewers. As any one of the 672,000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime.

History of the ING New York City Marathon
Around the world, the word “marathon” is synonymous with New York City. Before the New York race began, marathons were modest events attended and run by a few athletes and sports fans interested in the limits of human endurance. New York Road Runners and marathon co-founder Fred Lebow changed that. Today marathons are huge media events that take over entire cities around the globe. None is as prominent or overpowering as the ING New York City Marathon, but all are modeled on it. Modern marathoning owes its start—and its world-class status—to New York.

The first New York City Marathon, though, was a humble affair. In 1970, 127 runners paid the $1 entry fee to NYRR to participate in a 26.2-mile race that looped several times within Central Park. Fifty-five runners crossed the finish line.

When Lebow redrew the course through all five New York boroughs six years later, not many could appreciate his vision. But 2,090 runners lined up at the start for the chance to run through Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. The expanded course attracted two-time Olympic marathon medalist Frank Shorter, along with reporters and television cameras. Thousands of spectators lined the streets and cheered the runners. By reconfiguring the course, Lebow had drawn the city together and attracted recognition around the world.
The New York City Marathon’s unique mix of athletics, neighborhood spirit, and international media attention soon attracted the world’s best runners to the annual fall race. By the late 1970s, the running boom was exploding and New York was at the center. More than 9,000 people participated in 1978 when Norwegian Grete Waitz set a women’s world marathon record, finishing in 2:32:30.

Several men’s and women’s records fell in the early years, but the New York race was soon about more than speed. When international sanctions against South African athletes were lifted in 1992, Willie Mtolo chose to run New York. He bested the field and was granted media coverage around the world. When Tegla Loroupe broke the tape at the Central Park finish in 1994, her win proved that African women were on par with the African men in their ability to run the 26.2-mile distance. She did it in New York, and the world took notice. Soon Kenyan women were invited to distance races in scores of other cities.

In 2000, NYRR added an official wheelchair division to the marathon. Now the ING New York City Marathon has grown to become one of the most competitive wheelchair marathons anywhere in the world, with more than 140 wheelchair and handcycle athletes. In addition, a wide variety of ambulatory athletes with disabilities participate.

While the marathon has always been an exercise in community spirit, with more than two million New Yorkers lining the streets to support the runners, that aspect of the race was most apparent in November 2001. Less than two months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the New York City Marathon became a race of hope and renewal for participants, spectators, and all New Yorkers, and patriotism ran high as the marathon hosted the men’s and women’s USA Marathon Championships.

New York has continued to lead in race management. In 2002, NYRR created a separate start for the professional women as a way to highlight the most competitive women’s field in race history. The leading women continue to start 35 minutes before the men and the rest of the field.

In 2003, ING became the title sponsor of the race and joined with NYRR to initiate grassroots running and fitness programs among the city’s youth. The ING Run for Something Better has contributed over half a million dollars to the City Parks Foundation and to the New York Road Runners Foundation Running Partners program, which together put running-based health and fitness programs in city parks and schools year round.

Thirty-six years after its start, the ING New York City Marathon continues to grow in size and to be the leader among marathons around the world. In 2005, 36,856 people crossed the finish line, making it the largest marathon of all time. Also in 2005, a record 87,625 people worldwide applied to run.

The ING New York City Marathon continues to evolve and serves as an example to marathon organizations the world over.