George Spitz: The Connector
The New York City Marathon became a 5-boro route thanks to five Trailblazers who believed a race could unite an entire city. In 1976, their vision transformed the marathon from a local race confined to Central Park into a 26.2-mile journey through all five boroughs.
They were the people who turned an impossible idea into a global tradition, emulated in major cities around the world. Fifty years later, their legacy lives on in every runner, every volunteer, every bridge crossed, and every New Yorker who lines the streets to cheer.
This blog post is the second in a five-part series honoring the Trailblazers.
George Spitz ran the New York City Marathon in 1974, when it was held entirely in Central Park. He finished toward the back of the field of 259 runners on a warm September day, and one can imagine he felt lonely at some point in a race that attracted few spectators and little fanfare.
The following spring, Spitz ran the Boston Marathon and was impressed by the throngs of cheering spectators. “Huge crowds,” he recalled years later. “I thought, ‘Why can’t we have one here?’”
Spitz was known for his tenacity. “When he got an idea in his head, he wouldn’t let go of it,” his friend George Hirsch was quoted as saying in Spitz’s obituary. And he wouldn’t let go of the idea of a marathon worthy of the great city he called home.
A Shared Vision
One of Spitz's running friends was the legendary Ted Corbitt, a 1952 Olympian and the founding president of New York Road Runners. Like Spitz, Corbitt had run the New York City Marathon in Central Park. Corbitt had a vision for the race that extended beyond the park and connected all five boroughs.
This vision excited Spitz. He believed the 1976 New York City Marathon could be a special, citywide race worthy of Big Apple to celebrate the nation’s Bicentennial.
In a 1984 letter to Fred Lebow, Spitz recalled that he “discussed the five-borough marathon concept” with Corbitt. A historical research project commissioned by New York Road Runners as part of the 5-boro marathon’s 50th anniversary concluded that the idea originated with Corbitt, growing out of correspondence between him and Spitz.
Connecting the Right People
Spitz connected runners and New York City officials to make the first 5-boro New York City Marathon a reality.
Spitz was well connected politically, having run for public office several times. In the same 1984 letter to Lebow, he wrote that Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton “was enthusiastic about the idea of a five-borough marathon.” Sutton had attended the 1975 marathon in Central Park and crowned the champions at the finish line.
Spitz arranged the pivotal first meeting with Sutton—a conversation that sparked the realization of the 5-boro course. Behind the scenes, Spitz helped build the relationships and momentum necessary to move the marathon from a bold idea to a citywide event.
Fighting for What He Believed In
A dedicated runner, Spitz took part in NYRR races throughout his adult life.
Born in 1922, Spitz graduated from Columbia College in 1949 and joined the Lexington Democratic Club, a political reform organization. He supported independent candidates and a range of liberal causes, tirelessly writing letters and newspaper columns, and speaking in public forums.
Though his multiple attempts to hold elected office never succeeded, Spitz remained an indefatigable public citizen. When he ran for New York City mayor in 2001, he told The New York Times he was the “only vegetarian, only road runner, only veteran of World War II, only senior citizen, only union person, only Orthodox Jew, and only high school dropout in the race.”
Spitz completed more than two dozen marathons, including the first 5-boro New York City Marathon, in 1976, finishing in 3:41:47.
He died in 2015 at age 92, having spent his life speaking his mind and fighting for what he believed in. Though he once said, “The idea [for the 5-boro marathon] would have come around regardless of me,” he played a critical role in connecting the worlds of running and city politics, and in that way, he left an indelible mark on the New York City Marathon and the city he loved.
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