4. 1925: The Port Chester Marathon

While NYC had many marathons throughout the early years of the 1900s, it was not until the Port Chester Marathon that NYC had a major, yearly marathon. The marathon began in 1925 and would continue to be the major running event in the NYC area until 1941. The participants of this marathon would always begin at Columbus Circle. The runners would run up through Manhattan, across the Bronx into Westchester County. The marathon, which originally matched the route taken in the first NYC marathon sponsored by the Evening Journal, reversed the route so instead of finishing in NYC, it would start there. The route was extended to Port Chester to match the marathons held in Europe.

In 1925, Albert Michensen set the world record by running the marathon in just under two-and-a-half hours; he would hold onto that record for a decade. In 1933 one of the runners was actually struck by a car and still somehow managed not only to continue, but also finish the race.