FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York City Marathon Icons Rod Dixon, Dick Traum, Margaret Okayo, and
Steve Jones to be Inducted into NYRR Hall of Fame's Class of 2016
Abebe Bikila Award to be presented to past NYRR head Mary Wittenberg and
George Hirsch Journalism Award to be presented to New York Times writer
Jeré Longman
Public ceremony to honor inductees and award winners to take place at the
TCS New York City Marathon Pavilion in Central Park on November 3 at 4:00
p.m.
New York, October 19, 2016- New York City Marathon icons Rod Dixon, Dick
Traum, Margaret Okayo, and Steve Jones will make up the NYRR Hall of Fame
Class of 2016, while former NYRR President and CEO and TCS New York City
Marathon Race Director Mary Wittenberg will receive the Abebe Bikila Award
and New York Times writer Jeré Longman will receive the George Hirsch
Journalism Award this year, it was announced today by New York Road
Runners. All six award winners will be honored on Thursday, November 3 at
4:00 p.m. at the Visitor's Center at the TCS New York City Marathon
Pavilion in Central Park.
NYRR Hall of Fame
Since its creation in 2011, the NYRR Hall of Fame has honored legendary
figures in the sport of road running, who through their triumphs and
contributions have made NYRR and the TCS New York City Marathon what they
are today.
Dixon of New Zealand is the only New York City Marathon champion to have
also won an Olympic medal at 1500 meters. At age 22, he captured bronze in
Munich in 1972, and 11 years later he won the 1983 New York City Marathon
in dramatic fashion, coming from behind to overtake race leader Geoff Smith
of Great Britain in the 26th mile. Several years after his marathon win in
New York, he covered the race as a TV commentator by wearing a "helmet-cam"
and keeping pace with the lead runners. Dixon is also the founder and CEO
of Rod Dixon's KiDSMARATHON Foundation, which has a mission to encourage
all kids to be active and to make healthy choices in their daily life. At
age 66, he still runs regularly, often accompanying KiDSMARATHON
participants in their workouts.
Traum has worked to help people with a disability compete as athletes in
road races and other sporting events for over 30 years. In 1983, he founded
Achilles International, an organization whose mission is to enable people
with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream running events
in order to promote personal achievement. Traum lost his right leg above
the knee as the result of a car accident when he was 24. An accomplished
college wrestler, he was determined to remain physically active. Traum
completed the first five-borough New York City Marathon in 1976 in 7:24,
becoming the first known amputee athlete to run a marathon. He has
completed 24 New York City Marathons and 61 in total, and he served as an
NYRR board member for two decades.
Okayo won the New York City Marathon in 2001 and 2003-setting a course
record of 2:22:31 that still stands-and also racked up two San Diego
Marathon wins and one victory each at the Boston, London, and Milan
marathons. In her five finishes at the New York City Marathon, Okayo never
finished lower than fifth place. Okayo also showed a remarkable ability to
bounce back from disappointments. Forced to drop out of the Chicago
Marathon in 2001 due to dehydration, she came back to win the New York
Marathon less than a month later. Similarly, she rebounded from a sub-par
2002 New York City Marathon to win the Milan Marathon within a month.
Jones of Great Britain won the 1988 New York City Marathon in 2:08:20, the
fastest time in the world that year. His margin of victory, 3 minutes and
21 seconds, remains the largest in the history of the five-borough race. He
set a marathon world record of 2:08:05 with his win at the 1984 Chicago
Marathon, and his 2:07:13 in Chicago in 1985 remains the British record.
Known for his relentless work ethic, he was also impressively understated
and humble. Even at the peak of his running career, he kept his position as
a technician in the Royal Air Force, once noting that he was "one hamstring
tear away from oblivion."
Abebe Bikila Award
The Abebe Bikila Award is presented to an individual who has made an
outstanding contribution to the sport of distance running.
Wittenberg joined NYRR in 1998 and became its first chief operating officer
in 2000. In 2005, she became the first woman to lead NYRR as president and
CEO. With Wittenberg leading the way, the New York City Marathon, which was
named the 2011 Sports Business Journal Sports Event of the Year, grew in
stature as New York City's premier annual sporting event, uniting the
neighborhoods of New York City's five boroughs and drawing runners from
around the world. She left NYRR to lead Virgin Sport in May 2015.
Wittenberg will represent NYRR Team for Kids at the 2016 TCS New York City
Marathon.
George Hirsch Journalism Award
The George Hirsch Journalism Award, established in 2010, recognizes
excellence in the reporting, writing, and broadcasting of the sport of
marathon and distance running.
Longman has been a sports reporter for The New York Times since October
1993, having covered the New York City Marathon and New York Road Runners
races on a regular basis for more than two decades. He has run the New York
City Marathon four times himself, and last year, as part of a journalistic
endeavor, raced the Pyongyang Marathon, a four-lap race through North
Korea's capital. Longman is also the author of The New York Times
bestseller "Among the Heroes," about United Flight 93 that was hijacked on
Sept. 11, 2001, and crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers and crew
rebelled against the hijackers.
About the TCS New York City Marathon
The TCS New York City Marathon is the premier event of New York Road
Runners (NYRR) and the largest marathon in the world. Over 1,000,000 people
have finished the race since its first running in 1970 with just 127
entrants and 55 finishers running four laps around Central Park. The race
expanded to all five boroughs in 1976 and is now in its 40th year as a
five-borough affair. Held annually on the first Sunday of November, the
race features 50,000 runners including the world's top professional
athletes and a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity
runners. Participants from over 125 countries tour the city, starting on
Staten Island at the foot of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and running
through the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx before ending
in Manhattan. In 2015, the inaugural NYRR Youth Invitational at the TCS New
York City Marathon gave young runners the opportunity to run 1.8 miles of
the race course in Central Park, beginning near mile 24 and finishing at
the famed TCS New York City Marathon finish line. More than one million
spectators and thousands of volunteers line the city streets in support of
the runners, while millions more watch the live television broadcast in the
New York area on WABC-TV, Channel 7, nationally on ESPN2, and via various
international broadcast partners around the world. The race is part of the
Abbott World Marathon Majors, which features the world's top
marathons-Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York-and crowns
the top professional male and female marathoners each year. Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting, and
business solutions organization, is the premier partner of NYRR and the
title sponsor of the TCS New York City Marathon. The 46th running of the
TCS New York City Marathon is set for November 6, 2016. To learn more,
visit www.tcsnycmarathon.org.
###
|
