New York City has long drawn runners and spectators alike to its streets each November, where the marathon winds through neighborhoods that reveal the city’s layered character. This year marks a milestone for one longtime participant whose unbroken participation stretches back to the race’s expansion across all five boroughs. Dave Obelkevich, an 83-year-old Upper West Side resident, will line up for his 50th consecutive edition on November 1. ([1]) His story sits among those of 25 other runners chosen for New York Road Runners Team Inspire, a group of 26 selected to highlight personal journeys that give this year’s event added resonance. **A Route That Grew With the City** The five-borough course debuted in 1976 as part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebrations. What began as a single-day experiment quickly became an annual tradition that threads Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan into one continuous path. Runners cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge at dawn and finish in Central Park after passing through communities that once saw the event from a distance and now line the sidewalks in force. Obelkevich remembers Staten Island feeling remote when he first ran the expanded route. Over the decades he has watched the field grow from a few thousand entrants to more than 59,000 finishers last year, with applications far exceeding available spots. The increase in women participants stands out to him as the most striking shift, rising from 62 finishers in 1976 to more than 27,000 in recent editions. **One Runner’s Unbroken Thread** Obelkevich has finished every five-borough marathon held since that 1976 start, a streak that includes years when the race itself was canceled in 2012 and 2020. He has navigated a broken rib sustained two weeks before one edition, emergency surgery for a leg-threatening aneurysm, and more recent balance challenges that led him to compete as an athlete with a disability beginning in 2023. His stepdaughter now serves as his guide on the course. He plans to walk much of this year’s route, aiming to finish within eight hours. Each completion, he notes, feels sweeter because the effort has changed. The retired music teacher has completed 115 marathons and more than 200 ultramarathons elsewhere, yet the New York City event remains the one he refuses to miss. **Stories That Travel With the Miles** Team Inspire recognizes runners whose reasons for returning to the starting line carry particular weight. Julianna Mangano, whose family roots reach back to Staten Island’s North Shore, will run her first five-borough marathon in memory of her cousin Bernard Frank Veneziano, who died suddenly in 2020. Dennis LeVasseur, a retired Massachusetts fire chief who responded to the September 11 attacks, returns to the city he first saw under very different circumstances, this time raising funds for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Jaclyn Corin, a Parkland shooting survivor and advocate, will run with teammates from March For Our Lives while carrying memories of her late father, a lifelong New Yorker. These accounts illustrate how the marathon serves as both personal milestone and shared passage through the city’s public spaces. **A Shared Passage Through Neighborhoods** For visitors and locals alike, the race offers a rare chance to witness New York’s boroughs in motion. Spectators gather early along the route, and the energy builds from the quiet start on Staten Island to the dense crowds in Brooklyn and the final push through Manhattan. The event draws participants from more than 160 countries, yet it remains deeply tied to the neighborhoods it traverses. Obelkevich’s continued participation, alongside the other Team Inspire runners, underscores the determination that keeps people returning year after year. The finish line in Central Park awaits them all on the first Sunday in November.
AI Disclaimer: This article was created with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by a human editor.