Fred Lebow

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Fred Lebow (June 3, 1932 - October 9, 1994) (born: Fischel Lebowitz) was an avid road runner and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Transylvania, Romania, he transformed the marathon from a small race with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest marathons in the world with over 36,544 finishers in 2004.

Fred ran in the inaugural NYC marathon in 1970, finishing 45th out of 55 runners with a time of 4:12:09. He ran his last NYC Marathon in 1992, in celebration of his 60th birthday, after being diagnosed with brain cancer in early 1990. His time was 5:32:35.

He was posthumously inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2001. During his career he completed 69 marathons in 30 countries. Along with the NYC Marathon he also organized the Empire State Building Run Up, the Fifth Avenue Mile, and the Crazy Legs Mini Marathon, the first strictly women's race. Lebow was also president of the New York Road Runners Club for twenty years. His memorial service at the finish line of the New York City Marathon, attracted a crowd of 3,000 mourners, which was, at that time, the largest memorial gathering in Central Park since the death of John Lennon.[1]

[edit] Statue in Central Park

Fred at the finish line of the 2006 Marathon

In Lebow's honor, a sculpture of him was created by Jesus Ygnacio Dominguez. The sculpture, unveiled November 4 1994, depicts Lebow timing runners with his watch. In 2001, the statue was moved to its permanent location on the East Side Central Park Drive at 90th St. Every year, however, the statue is moved to a spot in view of the finish line of the Marathon. [2]