"It's everything," Metellus, 47, tells Fortune. "Coming back post COVID is the culmination of a year's worth of hard work and dedication."
New York Road Runners (NYRR) wasn't sure until May that there would even be a marathon this year. Ultimately, because of rising vaccination rates and lower infection rates in the spring, the state and city gave NYRR the green light to go ahead with the race, the running organization's biggest annual source of revenue by a wide margin, but an event that will look very different this year.
Putting on a race that usually draws more than 50,000 runners and more than 1 million spectators along its 26.2-mile course through the city's five boroughs has entailed a lot of new practices and the tweaking of older ones, testing the rookie race director.
First, he and the team he oversees made the decision to have a much smaller race this year, with 30,000 participants. "It naturally creates social distancing and space for the athletes across the board," Metellus says.
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