| 1979 New York City Marathon | |
|---|---|
| Date | 21 October |
| Location |  New York City, NY |
| Event type | Marathon |
| Distance | 42.195 km |
| Edition | 10th |
| Course records | 2:10:09 (1976 men) 2:27:33 (1979 women) |
← 1978 1980 → | |
The 1979 New York City Marathon was the 10th edition of the New York City Marathon and took place in New York City on 21 October. [1]
Men
| Women
|
The New York City Marathon is an annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishers in 2019 and 98,247 applicants for the 2017 race. Along with the Boston Marathon and Chicago Marathon, it is among the pre-eminent long-distance annual running events in the United States and is one of the World Marathon Majors.
Grete Waitz was a Norwegian marathon runner and former world record holder. In 1979, she became the first woman in history to run the marathon in under two and a half hours. She won nine New York City Marathons, women's division, between 1978 and 1988, more than any other runner in history. She won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and a gold medal at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki. Her other marathon victories included winning the London Marathon in 1983 and 1986. She was also a five-time winner of the World Cross Country Championships.
Joan Benoit Samuelson is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woman at the Chicago Marathon for 32 years after winning the race in 1985. Her time at the Boston Marathon was the fastest time by an American woman at that race for 28 years. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.
The Chicago Marathon is a marathon held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also an IAAF Gold Label race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest race by number of finishers worldwide.
The Tokyo International Marathon was a marathon for male elite runners held in Tokyo, Japan, from 1980 until 2006.
William Henry Rodgers is a former American runner, olympian, and record holder in the marathon. Rodgers is best known for his four victories in both the Boston Marathon, including three straight 1978-1980 and the New York City Marathon between 1976 and 1980.
Rosie M. Vivas was a Cuban-American fraudster who was declared the winner in the female category for the 84th Boston Marathon in 1980, only to have her title stripped eight days after the race when it was discovered that she had not run the entire course. She is believed to have jumped onto the course about a half-mile before the finish.
Rodney Phillip Dixon is a former New Zealand middle- to long-distance runner. He won the bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, and in 1983 won the New York City Marathon.
The Stockholm Marathon, known as the ASICS Stockholm Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon arranged in Stockholm, Sweden, since 1979. It serves as the Swedish marathon championship race. At the 2009 Stockholm Marathon more than 18,500 participants were registered. The marathon is categorized as a Bronze Label Road Race by World Athletics.
Peter Dickson Pfitzinger is an American former distance runner, who later became an author and exercise physiologist.
Michiko "Miki" Suwa Gorman was an American marathon runner of Japanese ancestry. Gorman did not begin running competitively until she was in her mid-30s, but rapidly emerged as one of the elite marathoning women of the mid-1970s. She is the only woman to win both the Boston and New York City marathons twice and is the first of only two woman runners to win both marathons in the same year.
Thomas J. Fleming was an American distance runner who won the 1973 and 1975 New York City Marathon. He was also a two time runner-up in the Boston Marathon in 1973 and 1974 and finished six times in the top ten in the BAA marathon. Fleming was the winner of the Cleveland, Toronto, Los Angeles, Jersey Shore and Washington DC marathons in the 1970s. He set a personal best of 2:12:05 in the Boston Marathon 1975, and was renowned for running 110 to 150 miles per week to train for road racing. He was awarded the United Nations Peace Medal in 1977.
Nina Kuscsik is a retired female long-distance runner from the United States, who has participated in over 80 marathons.
Kim Merritt is a former American long-distance runner who competed in the marathon. Her career coincided with the development of women's running in the United States and she was at the forefront of distance running in the mid-1970s.
John J. McDermott was an Irish-American athlete, born in Manhattan, New York City to James McDermott and Lizzie Grady. He won the first marathon run in the United States in 1896, as well as the inaugural Boston Marathon, then known as the B.A.A. Road Race, in 1897. He was a lithographer by trade.
Kirk Pfeffer is a retired American long-distance runner, who competed in marathons. He won the Enschede Marathon in 1979 in 2:11:50 and America's Finest City Half Marathon in 1981 in 1:02:55. On December 7, 1979 he set a new world record in the half marathon at 1:02:32 in Las Vegas. Next year he ran his best marathon time of 2:10:29 in Fukuoka, which placed him tenth in the World Marathon Rankings for 1980.
William Donakowski was an American distance runner. He represented the United States at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in 1979, 1981, and 1983. He was the men's winner of the 1986 Twin Cities Marathon. He is a brother of Gerard Donakowski.
Sue Petersen is a former American marathoner. During her running career, Petersen appeared at her first World Marathon Majors event at the 1977 Boston Marathon and placed in eleventh place. After placing in the top eight at the New York and Boston from 1978 to 1979, Petersen won her only major marathon at the 1980 Chicago Marathon. Upon her last major marathon appearance at Chicago in 1981, Petersen continued to compete in various marathons throughout the Western United States until 1987. After leaving running in 1988, Petersen worked as a teacher until her retirement in 2002.
Frank Richardson is a retired marathon runner who competed during the 1970s and 1980s. Before entering his first races in the late 1970s, Richardson was 4th at the 1976 NCAA Men's Division III Cross Country Championship and 1st at the 1977 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters. In World Marathon Majors, Richardson was 20th at the 1979 Boston Marathon and did not complete the 1980 Boston event. That year, Richardson won the 1980 Chicago Marathon with a course record time of 2:15:15 and was 10th at the 1980 New York City Marathon. In other events, Richardson won the 1980 USA Marathon Championships and was 9th in the marathon at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials. After ending his marathon career in 1985, Richardson worked at a pharmacy before resuming road racing in 2001.
