On your mark, get set…go sell some books!
The 2019 New York City Marathon will take place on Sunday, November 3rd. Over 50,000 athletes are anticipated to run with millions of fans cheering them on from the sidelines and on livestreams around the world.
To prep yourself and your accounts for race day, read through a few fast facts about the world’s largest marathon below and discover PRH’s best backlist books by and about runners.
To see a full collection of titles on the Backlist Vault, click here.
To see this collection on Edelweiss, click here.
New York City Marathon Fast Facts
- It is considered the world’s largest marathon, based on athlete attendance.
- The current 26-mile race course now passes through all five NYC boroughs.
- The first NYC marathon was held in 1970, when runners made their way through all 26.2 miles of Central Park. A total of 127 athletes participated, but only 55 finished the course.
- The race has only been cancelled one time: in 2012, due to aftereffects of Hurricane Sandy. On what was supposed to be race day that year, thousands of athletes staged an unofficial run through Central Park—while others joined together to support relief efforts in Staten Island and other affected areas.
- The current course finishing records are: 2:05:05 in the men’s division (set in 2011) and 2:22:31 in the women’s division (set in 2003).
