By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – With sports stadiums packed full of fans and the bright lights of Broadway shining bright again, another ‘Big Apple’ institution returns from a COVID-19 hiatus on Sunday with the 50th running of the New York City Marathon.
Last year’s marathon was cancelled due to the pandemic and while this year’s race will take place under an array of health and safety protocols competitors see its return as a sign of life getting back to normal.
“It feels like the world is spinning in the right direction again,” said 2016 Olympian Jared Ward, who will compete in the race for the fourth time.
“There’s just so much about being back here that makes it seem like everything is good again.”
Organisers capped participation at 33,000, down from roughly 53,000 in 2019, added another start wave, and mandated proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test.
Among other safety measures, finishers will receive a mask in their post-race amenity bags.
“It’s the biggest stage on earth,” said Ted Metellus, who was appointed race director in February. “To say that you are part of that comeback story is something you’ll hold on to forever.”
New York native Metellus first worked on the marathon with the New York Road Runners weeks after the attack on the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan in 2001 and drew on that experience in the run-up to this year’s race.
“I thought a lot about what happened 20 years ago,” he told Reuters.
“Granted, totally different scenarios – but think about what is available to us technology-wise, information-wise, more people that are engaged and connected, more people are able to communicate a message clearly to those that are going to be participating.”
Sunday’s race caps a chaotic year for the marathon majors after London and Boston were moved from their traditional April dates to October due to the pandemic.
New York will feature a strong field, including Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, who ran the second-fastest marathon of all time in Berlin in 2019.
“New York City always has this weight to it,” said American Molly Seidel, who won marathon bronze at the 2020 Games and is one of 13 Tokyo Olympians lining up on Sunday.
“A lot of people who ran the Olympics, like realistically, this was going to be the best chance you had to get back into form and have a semblance of a full marathon build.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
