First Co-Ed Marathon Held Entirely Within Central Park In Nearly 40 Years

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It wasn't the New York City Marathon, but runners still covered 26.2 miles Sunday and finished in Central Park.

As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, this marathon had no street closures or crowds clogging up the sidewalks, as it was contained only in the park.

"The character of our race is going to be a very small, community-oriented event," said David Alm of NYCRUNS.

Alm said the field for the marathon Sunday was capped at 1,500 runners. It was the first time a co-ed marathon was held entirely in Central Park since 1975.

"In some sense, the atmosphere is going to be kind of historic, and we're kind of thinking that way, we're making history in a sense," Alm said.

He compared the Central Park Marathon to the early days of the New York City Marathon in the 1970s, when a small group raced around the park. The Central Park Marathon is now on tap to become an annual event.

"The name is cool, the concept is cool, it's got some history to it," Alm said.

The New York City Marathon was canceled in November, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Mayor Michael Bloomberg initially had said the marathon would go ahead, but he canceled the race amid a thunderous outcry.

Some New Yorkers protested holding the race amid the devastation from Sandy would divert much needed resources from those left with nothing.

But thousands of runners decided to race anyway on Nov. 4 of last year.

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