Before you read the following article which I copied from the website of Marathon Guide (http://marathonguide.com), I would like to mention my insights about the New York City Marathon which is true to the other Marathon Races in the different cities in the USA and to other countries around the world:

1. It takes an avid or regular runner who has the passion in it to create, organize, and implement  a Marathon Race, no matter how small the number of runners on its first edition. What it needs is a good leader and a vision for the event. Fred Lebow, founder of the New York Marathon and later President of the New York Road Runners, was neither a natural-born American nor an elite & fast runner but through his dedication to the event, the race had become as one of the World’s Championship Marathon Races.

2. The need to be backed-up by an organization that shares your vision and purpose. The New York Road Runners had been the running club/organization that is behind the event. Of course, the club has membership fees and such fees have corresponding privileges.

3. Partnership with the City Government and Sponsors.  I am sure the City Government had the strategic thinking/view that the event will become bigger as the years come. With more participants to this race, it will increase the number of visitors, and income to the different establishments, thereby making the economy of the city more vibrant and active. The bottom line is that the city government receives more revenues from the taxes being paid  by such establishments.

4. Involvement of the Community. Like the Los Angeles Marathon, San Francisco Marathon and other city marathons, they are very memorable to runners because of the involvement of the community as volunteers and cheerers along the ENTIRE route of the event. By reading the experiences of runners in their marathon experiences, you could find out that almost the whole route is lined up with musicians; volunteers with water, beverages, sports drinks, and even beer; acrobats; dancers; rock bands; loud stereo music from big speakers; and simply people cheering you loudly and even stating your name.

5. Lastly, the runner-participants. The more the runners participating the event, the better for the event and the city. It is stated in the report below that the runners contribute much in the economy for the city from their brief stay in terms of hotel accommodations, foods, tours and shopping. On the other hand, the taxes being paid by the Race Organizer, the New York Road Runners, to the City Government come from the registration fee paid by the runner. So, if you are wondering why you are paying much for the registration fee as compared from other Marathon Races in some of the key cities in the USA, it’s because you are in New York!!!

Enjoy reading this one.

2010 ING New York City Marathon Generates $340M for NYC

Race Raised $30.8M for Charities

Total Economic Impact Increased 25% Since 2006

New York, NY—The ING NYC Marathon generated a new high of approximately

$340 million in total economic impact for New York City last year, a New

York Road Runners (NYRR) commissioned study released today found. In

addition, the study showed that the Marathon generates more than $30

million for charities, and a record number of visitors, participants and TV

viewers were involved in last year’s race.

The study is based on a survey of over 1,000 participants in the Marathon,

and assesses their spending in categories such as hotel, travel,

entertainment and retail, in addition to their direct expenditures on the

race itself.  In addition, the study includes other metrics such as total

charitable donations captures, visitor estimates and number of total race

participants.

“This study demonstrates the crucial role the ING NYC Marathon plays in

bringing benefits to our whole city and making it more vibrant every year,”

said New York Road Runners CEO and President Mary Wittenberg. “In addition

to the hundreds of schools we help with health and fitness programs and

hundreds of thousands who participate in the races, this race has clearly

become a cornerstone of positive economic activity for New York that the

city can count on year in and year out.”

“The New York Road Runners impact our economy by bringing in millions of

dollars through programs that benefit our overall city’s health including

hundreds of thousands of students in public schools,” said Council Member

Robert Jackson, Chair of the New York City Council Education Committee. “I

look forward to continue participating in races to come and supporting its

initiatives to improve the health and daily lives of our children.”

“Running the ING NYC Marathon is a feat of willpower – but it’s also a

testament to the economic power of the 2 million spectators, the runners

and their guests, the sponsors, the vendors, and the New York Road

Runners,” said New York City Economic Development Corp. Chief Operating

Office Josh Wallack. “Not only does the marathon raise money for charity,

it results in real contributions to the City’s booming tourism economy.”

The study showed two ranges of total economic impact.  The “conservative”

range showed $304 million in impact and the “baseline” range $378 million.

The conservative range includes only those impacts that would not have

occurred within New York City without the Marathon, and the baseline

includes all expenditures associated with Marathon participants and their

guests.

The full report can be requested by emailing ahowe@globalstrategygroup.com

Other key findings from the report include:

• Total economic impact from visitor and guest spending is 25% greater in

2010 than in 2006

• Tax revenues to New York City from the ING NYC Marathon ranged from

$10.8 to $11.2 million.

• 2010 ING NYC Marathon drew 45,350 participants, 2 million spectators,

and a television reach of 315M worldwide

• The race raised $30.8M for charities, $24.3M of that went to charities

in NYC

• The total number participants and their guests was about 290,250 people

• Participants spend a total of close to $1,800 each during their visit

The 2010 ING NYC Marathon made an unprecedented charitable impact, raising

$30.8 million overall, $24.3 million of which went to NYC based charities.

NYRR provides a number of charities with entries to the event, each of

which recruits runners to raise at least $2,500 per participant and then

provides the runner with guaranteed entry into the race.  NYRR receives a

fee for the entries, all of which is dedicated to NYRR’s non-profit

mission.

More than 2 million spectators came to watch the 45,350 runners in person

and total direct spending was approximately $153.2 million from

participants and their guests.

The first phases of findings were based off an electronic survey of

approximately 1,000 participants in 2010 ING New York City Marathon. In

addition NYRR collected data concerning spending by Marathon sponsors and

vendors as well as charity fundraising. The final estimates were based off

ING NYC Marathon participants and their guests, the NYRR organization

itself, Marathon sponsors, vendors at ING Health and Fitness Expo, and

associated charity fundraising.

The analysis does not include spending and impacts generated by

unaffiliated spectators because many of them are likely NYC residents who

would be spending money anyway, even though this does not account for the

many others who are likely non-NYC residents who traveled into the city for

the race but were not associated with a participant.

Expenditures by Marathon sponsors, vendors at the ING Health and Fitness

Expo, and charity revenues generated by fundraising are also considered in

the impact analysis. Sponsor and vendor expenditures as well as NYC-based

charity revenues are assumed to be either directly or indirectly associated

with the Marathon.

Expenditures by media organizations for providing televised coverage of the

event, public costs of staging the event (security, street closures etc)

and media and branding value from extensive world-wide television exposure

for NYC were not considered.

NYRR retained AECOM to estimate the economic and fiscal impacts of the ING

New York City Marathon 2010. AECOM was retained on similar occasions by

NYRR to conduct a similar analysis.

New York Road Runners

Headquartered in New York City, New York Road Runners is dedicated to

growing the sport of running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and

meeting our community’s needs. Our goal is to leverage the expertise

acquired in our 50+ year history to empower all people of all ages to live

fitter, healthier lives through participation in our races, community

events, instruction and training resources, and youth programs. Our races

and other fitness programs draw upwards of 300,000 people annually. The ING

New York City Marathon, NYRR’s premier event, is the largest and most

inclusive marathon in the world, attracting the world’s top professional

runners and raising over $20 million for charity annually. NYRR’s

running-based youth programs, which currently serve nearly 100,000 children

in hundreds of schools and community centers, promote children’s physical

fitness, character development, and personal achievement in underserved

communities.

So, after reading this report from the New York Road Runners, it is deplorable and sad to remember that we had then a Manila International Marathon; PAL International Marathon; and Pasig River Heritage Marathon since the early 80’s but all of these just disappeared.

Sayang!…What a waste!!!

I rest my case.

(Source: http://www.marathonguide.com)