FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Students from New York City’s Five Boroughs to Serve as Grand Marshals for
the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon
Group of Rising New York Road Runners to participate in race-week
festivities and ride lead vehicle on race day with Olympic medalist Jenny
Simpson
More than 3,000 kids will participate in TCS New York City Marathon race
week events, including the Rising New York Road Runners Youth Invitational
on marathon day
New York, October 24, 2017—Five New York City students, one from each of
New York City’s five boroughs, have been named Grand Marshals for the 2017
TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 5. The Grand Marshals are
all participants in Rising New York Road Runners, a free youth fitness
program launched by New York Road Runners at the start of the 2017-2018
school year.
During the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon race week, Grand Marshals,
accompanied by Olympic medalist and Team New Balance athlete Jenny Simpson,
Ambassador & Special Advisor to Rising New York Road Runners, will
participate in race-week festivities, including the opening of the TCS New
York City Marathon Expo Presented by New Balance on Thursday, November 2,
and the TCS New York City Marathon Opening Ceremony Presented by United
Airlines on Friday, November 3. On marathon day the group will ride in the
official Grand Marshal vehicle through the 26.2-mile marathon course with
Simpson, and Peter Ciaccia, president of events for New York Road Runners
(NYRR) and race director of the TCS New York City Marathon. Spectators will
be able to follow the Grand Marshals’ race day journey through New York
City on social media, as they and Simpson host a Snapchat takeover on
@NYRRsnaps.
The Grand Marshals who will be representing the Rising New York Road
Runners from their respective boroughs are Staten Island’s Oluwaseni
Johnson, 12, from New World Preparatory Charter School; Brooklyn’s Jaylen
Reid, 12, from The Dock Street School; Queens’ Peter Manekas, 9, from PS
232 Walter Ward School; the Bronx’s Hope Khazraishokatkhou, 10, from PS 66
School of Higher Expectations; and Manhattan’s Emma Albert, 14, from The
Beacon School.
This is only the fifth time in New York City Marathon history that the
event has featured a grand marshal. The marathon’s first Grand Marshal was
Czech running legend Emil Zatopek, who was given the honor in 1979. In
2003, Grete Waitz, nine-time New York City Marathon Champion and member of
the NYRR Hall of Fame was honored with the distinction. In addition to
being one of the most celebrated marathoners in history, Waitz also served
as founding chairwoman of the NYRR Foundation, which today has evolved into
NYRR’s free youth and community programs. In 2015, Brooklyn-raised
filmmaker and quintessential New York sports fan Spike Lee served as Grand
Marshal, and has since become a member of the NYRR Advisory Council. Last
year, the Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team, including Team for Kids
Ambassadors Meb Keflezighi and Shalane Flanagan, served as Grand Marshals.
Keflezighi and Flanagan will be joining fellow 2016 Grand Marshal Jared
Ward in the pro field of the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon, while Des
Linden will run the 2017 Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K and USATF 5K
Championships on Saturday, November 4.
The Rising New York Road Runners’ role as Grand Marshals will highlight the
enhancements made by NYRR in 2017 to their free youth running and fitness
programs. Earlier this year, NYRR evolved their current youth program
offerings into Rising New York Road Runners, a single, comprehensive
program that is based on the latest advances in physical education
research. Similar to the ways in which other subjects are taught in school,
Rising New York Road Runners’ curriculum is designed to allow the growing
participants to fully develop their sports and movement skills, and begin a
lasting and healthy attitude towards health and fitness. Since 1999, New
York Road Runners has offered free youth running programs to young runners
across New York City’s five boroughs and nationwide, and annually serves
more than 267,000 youth.
In addition to the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon Grand Marshals, more
than 3,000 young runners of all ages will participate in youth running
events during race week and on race day, including the Rising New York Road
Runners Jamboree Presented by TCS, TCS Run with Champions, and the Rising
New York Road Runners Youth Invitational.
On Saturday, October 28, New York Road Runners will welcome over 1,500 New
York City public school students from the five boroughs to the famed New
Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory, for the Rising New York Road
Runners Jamboree Presented by TCS. The free event is open to students from
pre-K through high school, and will feature a variety of track and field
events. More information on the Rising New York Road Runners Jamboree
Presented by TCS can be found here.
On Friday, November 3, the 18th annual TCS Run with Champions will bring
together 1,000 Rising New York Road Runners with professional athletes and
celebrity Team for Kids Ambassadors participating in the 2017 Abbott Dash
to the Finish Line 5K and USATF 5k Championships, and the TCS New York City
Marathon. Hosted by Simpson, the event features a series of fun runs that
start and finish at the iconic finish line of the TCS New York City
Marathon. Two special participants are Caleb Wang and Jadeyn Madhere, the
recipients of the 2017 Rising New York Road Runners Youth Ambassadors of
the Year Award, who will be presented with their official award by Simpson
at the event. More information on TCS Run with Champions can be found here.
On race day, Sunday, November 5, 1,000 youth runners will race in the third
annual Rising New York Road Runners Youth Invitational at the TCS New York
City Marathon. The young runners will start on the East 72nd Street
Tansverse, race along the final stretch of the marathon, and finish at the
finish line of the TCS New York City Marathon, as the 50,000 marathon
participants start their race in Staten Island. More information on the
Rising New York Road Runners Youth Invitational at the TCS New York City
Marathon can be found here.
As part of the youth running festivities throughout race week, Team for
Kids Ambassador Tatyana McFadden will be honored at NYRR Night of Champions
for her commitment to NYRR’s free youth running and fitness programs.
McFadden, who is an avid supporter of Rising New York Road Runners and the
NYRR Youth Wheelchair Training Program, is one of the world’s most
celebrated wheelchair athletes, with 17 Paralympic medals. In her third
year competing as a Team for Kids Ambassador, McFadden will return to the
TCS New York City Marathon on November 5, to vie for her fifth consecutive,
and sixth total win.
Team for Kids is NYRR’s charity running team, which raises funds for NYRR’s
free youth running and fitness programs. In addition to McFadden,
representing as Team for Kids Ambassadors in the 2017 TCS New York City
Marathon are professional athletes Keflezighi and Flanagan, former New York
Giants Running Back Tiki Barber, model and body activist Candice Huffine,
and WABC Channel 7 Meteorologist Amy Freeze, who will be reporting live
from the course.
The 2017 TCS New York City Marathon will be televised on Sunday, November
5, on WABC-TV, Channel 7 in the New York tristate area from 9:00 a.m. to
2:00 p.m. ET, and for the rest of the nation on ESPN2 from 9:00 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. ET.
NYRR’s youth programs are supported by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the
Premier Partner of NYRR and NYRR youth and community programs and the title
sponsor of the TCS New York City Marathon; New Balance, the Official
Athletic Footwear and Apparel Partner of NYRR; the New Balance Foundation;
and the Fairway Community Foundation. For more information on Rising New
York Road Runners please visit rising.nyrr.org.
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 just celebrated its 40th year as
a five-borough affair. Held annually on the first Sunday of November, the
race features over 50,000 runners including the world’s top professional
athletes and a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity
runners. Participants from approximately 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. The NYRR Youth Invitational at the TCS New York City
Marathon covered 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
television broadcast in 175 countries and territories, including viewers in
the New York area on WABC-TV, Channel 7, nationally on ESPN2, and via
various international broadcast partners. 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 47th running of the TCS New
York City Marathon is set for November 5, 2017. To learn more, visit
www.tcsnycmarathon.org.
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