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Fred Lebow and Grete Waitz to Be Honored as Inaugural Class of NYYR Hall of Fame

New York, October 27, 2011—New York City Marathon impresario Fred Lebow and nine-time champion Grete Waitz will be inducted posthumously into the NYRR Hall of Fame as its inaugural class.
 
The pair will be officially inducted and have their Hall of Fame banners raised at the ING New York City Marathon finish line in Central Park at the Marathon Opening Ceremony on Friday evening, November 4. The Marathon Opening Ceremony will also feature the Parade of Nations, and is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
The Hall of Fame ceremony will become an annual part of race week festivities, with plans to line the final stretch of the race with banners of the inductees, according to NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.
 
“Today is just the first step in honoring all of the legendary figures who, through their triumph and contributions, have made NYRR and the Marathon what they are today,” said Wittenberg.
 
Lebow, who died of brain cancer in 1994, was born Fischel Lebowitz in 1932 in Arad, Romania, and arrived in the United States in the 1960s. In 1970 he co-directed the first New York City Marathon, which was held entirely in Central Park with 127 entrants and 55 finishers. Through the next two decades Lebow shaped the race into a five-borough extravaganza that by the time of his death featured 31,129 starters.
 
Best known for his charismatic leadership of the marathon, Lebow also helped to develop a roster of unique events, including the NYRR New York Mini 10K, the first all-women’s distance race; the Fifth Avenue Mile; the Empire State Building Run-Up; and the New York Games.
 
Waitz was born Grete Andersen in Oslo in 1953. A five-time World Cross Country Champion and world record-holder at 3000 meters, Waitz was ranked #1 in the world in 1975 at 1500 and 3000 meters. She became the face of the New York City Marathon from the moment she broke the tape for the first time in 1978, in world-record time. She would go on to win the race a record nine times (1978-1980, 1982-1986, and 1988).
 
Out of the spotlight, Waitz worked with the NYRR Youth and Community Services to champion youth running programs in New York City schools. She died on April 19, 2011, of cancer at the age of 57.
 
Lebow and Waitz ran the New York City Marathon together in 1992. Lebow’s cancer was in remission and Waitz, retired from competition, accompanied him every step of the way. They completed the race in 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 34 seconds, crossing the finish line hand-in-hand; the moment remains one of the most memorable and emotional scenes in all of road racing.
 
“It is only proper that we begin by saluting these two towering legends of NYRR and our sport who are forever linked, most memorably at the 1992 race when Grete accompanied Fred on his emotional run through the city,” said Wittenberg. “Fred and Grete. You say one, you immediately think of the other.”
 
Allan Steinfeld, who was for many years Lebow’s most senior colleague and who succeeded him as NYRR president in 1992 and as CEO and marathon race director in 1994, will represent Lebow at the induction ceremony; Waitz’s husband, Jack, will appear on her behalf.
 
“Fred would be baffled as to why he was being honored by his own organization, even if he did make it the pre-eminent running organization in the world with the most widely acclaimed marathon,” said Steinfeld.
 
“Grete was the New York City Marathon and the New York City Marathon was Grete,” said Jack Waitz, who plans to run the ING New York City Marathon on November 6. “From the first time Grete ran through the streets in the 1978 marathon, to what she called her 10th and final ‘victory’ running the marathon with Fred Lebow in 1992, Grete embodied the race and the city.”