A New York Times special section captures the history of the New York City Marathon in photographs. We spoke to four photographers who have covered the course for decades.
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The New York City Marathon, first held in 1970 with 127 runners in Central Park, celebrates its 50th running this year — and an expected 30,000 people will be on the starting line. Ten Times photographers will be on site to cover the race, an increase from the one who shot the event in 1970. Photo editors recently dug through The Times’s archives and collected images from the last five decades for a recent special section that chronicles the race’s history in pictures. In interviews, four Times photographers who have documented the race for many years shared their experiences on the ground. They discussed the early days, bumping along on the press truck and how they get their shots. Their interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Following the path of the marathon in the early days.
I lived right off the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. In the ’70s, it was a lot looser than it is today. You could move around. You could go on the bridge. You went to the top of the bridge. You shot down. It was very flexible. I would go off the bridge, get into my car and get the joggers running through Brooklyn. At that time of the day, there were long shadows. So it made a dramatic picture. Then I would take my car and go to the 59th Street Bridge. I got the pack on the 59th Street Bridge and the city in the background. Then I would go to Central Park and photograph the aftermath of everyone crossing the finish line and wrapped up in blankets and having wine or whatever. That was basically how we covered it in the early days. We would have a photographer on the truck, then we had a photographer at the finish line, so the most we used were three photographers in that era.
Barton Silverman, Staff Photographer, 1964 - 2014
Riding on the press truck.
This is kind of my running joke: I say, “Yeah, I’m doing the marathon this year.” People say, “Are you in shape?” I say, “I’m totally in shape, in fact, I make it across the finish line before all of them every year.” They say, “What?” I say, “Yeah, I’m on that truck.” The truck is assigned to the parade route that covers the elite runners. You want the right-hand corner because basically, you get the turns where you see the motion. There are seats on the truck, but you end up standing up anyway. It is definitely a bumpy ride — you know every bump and every pothole in the five boroughs. But once the race starts, you’re part of that race. You’re part of one of the people that is running that race in your head because that is the way you can keep up with the rhythm.
Michelle V. Agins, Staff Photographer, 1989 - Present
Capturing the finish line.
I’m shooting the race again this year. I’m at the finish line. Once I have the winner — it is a delicate balance. I don’t want to leave too early to transmit the photos because events are taking place. Everything is happening right in front of you at that point. But there’s a lot of demand on that image. You want to be able to see when it’s best for you to make your exit for a few moments, run to the tent, upload your images, caption them, and then send them out. A lot of things have changed — the equipment has changed, the technology has changed — but really, the event is the same. It’s all about the athletes crossing that finish line. These athletes work years and years to get to this point in their life, and I have the responsibility of capturing that momentous moment in history that people will see and feel when they look at that image.
Uli Seit, Photographer, 2004 - Present
Finding the human moments.
Once you peel back the onion of the marathon, you start to see the individuals and their dedication and what the marathon means. Trying to convey those stories photographically was my challenge. I understand the paper needs to have a picture of the winner crossing the finish line. I never wanted to take that picture. I don’t want to be behind the velvet rope. I want to wander and find something. Twenty feet beyond the finish line is all the drama: people collapsing, people throwing up, people hugging, people crying, people clutching their medal. That’s where I want to be.
Fred R. Conrad, Staff Photographer, 1977 - 2014
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‘Once the Race Starts, You’re Part of That Race’ - The New York Times
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