- "The starting line of the New York City Marathon is kind of a giant time bomb behind you about to go off. It is the most spectacular start in sport."
-Bill Rodgers - "The marathon is a charismatic event. It has everything. It has drama. It has competition. It has camaraderie. It has heroism. Every jogger can't dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon."
-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder - "When you first run up First Avenue in New York, if you don't get goose bumps, there's something wrong with you."
- Frank Shorter, on the New York City Marathon - "I think I bit off more than I could chew, I thought the marathon would be easier. For the level of condition that I have now, that was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done."
-Lance Armstrong, after finishing the New York City Marathon - "The New York Marathon: a fantastic event."
- "Running defines me. It is a euphoric feeling I look forward to every day. It keeps me connected to life. And every November I get to witness the outpouring of compassion and spirit that this city gives to thousands of runners who tackle our marathon.”
-Allan Steinfield, former race director, New York City Marathon - "I'll never do that again!"
-Grete Waitz, after winning the first of nine consecutive New York City Marathons - "Today was not about times, it was about getting in there, enjoying the race, and enjoying the atmosphere."
Paula Radcliffe, on winning the New York City Marathon - "Everyone wins the marathon. We all have the same feeling at the start—nervous, anxious, excited. It is a broader, richer, and even with twenty-seven thousand people—more intimate experience than I found when racing in track. New York is the marathon that all the biggest stars want to win, but has also been the stage for an array of human stories more vast than any other sporting event. "
-Grete Waitz
-Pope John Paul II, 1982
