PUBLISHED 11/02/2006
"I think running is bigger than it's ever been, certainly throughout the United States, and I think internationally, we're seeing increased growth," commented Wittenberg, who directs an ING New York City Marathon that had 93,000 applicants, accepted 52,000, and expects about 37,000 to toe the starting line on Sunday. "Running as both sport and lifestyle is growing," she points out. "And the big cities and big races that have a lot of effort behind them are more successful than they've ever been, and now we're growing into unchartered territory of being more successful." Forty percent of those accepted for Sunday's race would be first-time marathoners.
In a luncheon with reporters this week, Wittenberg observed "in 1976, unless you were a tiny college guy who could make the cross country team, you weren't running." Now she sees tens of thousands of people who find completing a marathon "a goal that is well worth any individual considering." For those marathoning individuals, she believes, "there is no more emotional place in sports than standing at the finish line. They've overcome not only bad patches on race day, they've overcome every trial, every hurdle along the way to where they can run 26.2 miles. It's powerful stuff."
