Just two weeks after 47,000 runners participated in the ING New York City Marathon, the city will be the site of another 26.2 mile challenge.
The inaugural Brooklyn Marathon will be hosted this Sunday by NYCRUNS, an online race management company. Organizers expect between 350 to 400 runners, though registration is still open. The USATF-certified course of the race is six full laps and three lower loops of Prospect Park. NYCRUNS founder and Brooklyn Marathon organizer Steve Lastoe said he hopes to increase registration to 1,000 and move the race to the streets no later than 2013.
“While I never wanted to start it in the park, I sort of realized that the only way to start it was in the park,” said Lastoe. “This was a necessary step.”
Officials from NYCRUNS worked with Councilman Brad Lander and the Prospect Park Alliance to organize the details of the race. Sponsors include SUNY Downstate Medical Center/LICH, The Brooklyn Cyclones, Six Point Craft Ales and JackRabbit Sports.
“I have never worked on anything more in my life. I am pretty sure I put more into this race than my entire undergraduate degree,” said Lastoe.
The race was initially capped at 250 participants but registration has been extended to accommodate increasing demand, according to NYCRUNS. Anyone who attempted to run the NYC Marathon but could not finish, for any reason, is eligible for automatic entry into the Brooklyn Marathon.
The race is scheduled to begin on Center Drive in Prospect Park at 8 a.m. Sunday.
