Latest / Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning / Ted Metellus, TCS NYC Marathon Race Director Interview

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Ted Metellus, TCS NYC Marathon Race Director Interview · Curtis Sliwa & Larry Mendte In The Morning

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, Curtis, as you know, 60,000 runners are expected to
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: take part in the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: But the man who runs it all, what a job,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Ted Metellus, the New York Roadrunners Chief Event Production Officer
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and Race Director. He is an extremely busy man right now. Ted,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I want to thank you so much for taking the
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: time to talk to us today. How do you prepare
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: for the race? I know how the runners do. How
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: about you?
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Well, it's much like the runners, Larry. First, good morning
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: and thank you so very much. It's good to chat.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: So all of our runners right now are tapering. So
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: they are getting their last miles in and tuning up
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: for what will be a great day of running. And
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: the team at New York Road Runners are doing very
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: much the same thing. Checking the list twice, making sure
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: everything that we have is ready to go, and looking
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: forward to an amazing race day on November 1st.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: And congratulations. This is the 50th anniversary of the Five Boroughs.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: What has changed? Take us through the 50 years. What
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: has changed over those years?
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Well, Larry, you know what they say. For those of
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: us who are above 50, you only turn 50 once
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: the first time. So 1970 was the very first New
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: York City Marathon that happened in Central Park. where runners
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: did about four loops of the park. And the race
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: grew from the first race that had 55 finishers to
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: last year's race where we had over 59,000 finishers. So
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: much has changed over the years. You know, the running
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: community has changed. The demographic of our runners have changed.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: the races have become more diverse, more accessible. We're seeing
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: more younger people running the marathon distance, especially over the
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: last 10 plus years coming out of COVID. And older
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: people that are getting out there and challenging themselves and saying, hey,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: This is a bucket list item I've always wanted to do.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: So it's been incredible to see our city change and
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: evolve as well. Neighborhoods that have developed, mostly industrial spaces
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: that we ran through in years through Queens are now
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: beautiful neighborhoods and spaces there. It's been an amazing story
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: to tell about the growth of the Roadrunners, the growth
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: of the marathon and the growth of our great city.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Now, I understand that for the first time in 15 years,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: there's going to be a course change. And I know
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: the Bronx are near and dear to your heart. And
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the change is in the Bronx. Tell us about it. Yes, yes.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: I am a Bronx native, born and raised, a proud
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: graduate of All Hollows High School. And it was really
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: interesting to see the work that we've put in over
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the last five plus years to make this adjustment in
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: the Bronx. We rarely make adjustments on the route unless
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: there's something pretty substantial that lies into it. So as
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: I mentioned before, with all of the change and development
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: in our city, what we started to see in the
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Bronx neighborhoods were a lot of development there that did
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: not exist before. about 10 plus years ago. Supermarkets that
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: are being built and other community elements that are there
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: that we needed to look at closely and say, hey,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: how do we change the course, make the route better,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: but also help the neighborhood out a little bit here?
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: And that's exactly what we did. The section that we
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: have in the Bronx right now is beautiful. It still
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: has the runners going over the Willis Avenue Bridge, making
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: the turn on 131st Street and another turn on Alexander Avenue,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: which is remaining the same. But instead of making another turn,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: the runners go straight up to 141st Street. They're making
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: immediate turn onto 3rd Avenue and then making their way
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: over to Madison Avenue Bridge. So it takes some turns off,
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: makes it a little bit faster for the runners, gets
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: to see some really beautiful sections of that neighborhood in
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: that community. And, you know, a little bit of a
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: fuss up for 50 years. So it's kind of, you know,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: it's like changing an outfit or getting a haircut.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Now, I know that's, well, it's a little bit harder
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: than that. I'll tell you that. I know that accessibility
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: is extremely important to the TCS New York City Marathon.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: And now you have a new category for para-athletes. Tell
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: us about it.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Yes, we are piloting a para-athlete division. So we've always
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: had an athletes with disability para program, but not to
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: the scale that we have right now on the competitive side.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: We do have competitive wheelchair athletes, professional athletes that are
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: incredible and they have participated in all of the Abba
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: World Marathon majors, and many of them have won year
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: over year. But for your non-professional athletes, having this para
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: category allows these athletes to now track themselves and compare
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: themselves to other athletes with similar abilities.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: And you also are expanding your sustainability efforts as well
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: because you have a partnership with Culligan International. Tell us
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: about that.
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: So like many things, it's planting a seed that we
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: watch grow year over year. So coming out of the
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: 2020-2021 marathon, so 2020, the marathon was canceled. due to
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: the pandemic. 2021, we brought the marathon back and we
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: wanted to make some modifications and changes. One of which
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: was really amplifying that athletes can bring their own hydration
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: tools with them. These athletes can refill their bottles, but
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: they didn't need to use any of the cups along
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: the course if they so choose. We've continued to enhance
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: that program now with bottle refill stations. Partnered with Culligan
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: are almost like a NASCAR pull-in station for these runners.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: I've actually participated in an event that had them and
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: it was fantastic. You slide right into this section, you
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: grab your bottle, you refill and you're gone. You're back
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: at it again. Having this sustainability component has been tremendous.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: So I have to give a shout out to our
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: accessibility team for the amazing work that they've done to
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: continue to make the TCX New City Marathon, the most
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: accessible event in the world, and our sustainability team that
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: is tracking us to being the most sustainable marathon in
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: the world.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you what, Ted, I've talked to you a
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: couple of times and I can't believe your energy. You
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: are so full of energy and I know you're working
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: around the clock. What happens on November 2nd? Do you
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: just pass out?
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: No, quite the contrary, Larry. Like, I appreciate that. You know,
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: I was saying the energy you give is the energy
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: you receive. And on November 2nd, I'm still working. We
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: have an elite athletes program that we do. They're their
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: media session.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: We hang out with them. And then I'm checking in
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: on the team. I'm going to the start line in
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: Staten Island to check in on the team. I'm at
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: the finish line with the team there. I'm making sure
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: that folks are taken care of. I'm following up with
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: our city agency partners. So the week goes on. It's
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: not until Friday that I'm able to take a little
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: bit of a break and take that weekend off like
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: the rest of the team, rest, recover, and start planning
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: for 2027. They're lucky to have you.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Ted Metellus, New York Roadrunners Chief Event Production Officer and
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Race Director of the TCS New York City Marathon. I
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: know you hopped out of a car to talk to us.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: So thank you so much. And I know you've got
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: to start running again. That's it.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: I'm on the move.
• 7:06
  Speaker 3: So on my way to the finish line.