September 13, 1970: The 1st New York City Marathon

September 13, 1970: The 1st New York City Marathon is held, organized by the New York Road Runners Association. They ran a little over 8 laps around Central Park -- 2.6 miles north-to-south, 110th to 59th Street, and 0.6 miles east-to-west, 5th to 8th Avenue -- adding up to the standard marathon distance of 26 miles, 385 yards, or 26.2 miles.

There were 127 runners that started, and 55 that finished, including Gary Muhrcke, who finished in 2 hours, 31 minutes, 38 seconds. Not among the finishers was Nina Kuscsik, the only woman in the race.

In 1976, the race was expanded to include all 5 Boroughs. Starting at 10:10 AM on the 1st Sunday in November at the Staten Island end of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, with up to 45,000 runners, the race goes up 4th Avenue and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. It crosses the Pulaski Bridge into Long Island City, Queens, which is roughly the halfway point.

It goes over the Queensborough Bridge into Manhattan, and goes up the Upper East Side on 1st Avenue. It goes over the Willis Avenue Bridge in The Bronx, then quickly turns around at East 138th Street, and goes back into Manhattan over the Madison Avenue Bridge. It then goes down 5thAvenue, and into Central Park at East 90th Street. It goes through the Park until 59th Street, turns there, and reaches Columbus Circle. Then it goes back into the Park, with the finish line opposite the famed restaurant Tavern on the Green at West 66th Street and Central Park West.

The current record holders are Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya, with the fastest men’s time of 2:05:06, in 2011; and Margaret Okayo, also of Kenya, in 2003, with the fastest women’s time of 2:22:31. The race had been run every year until 2012, when it was canceled in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. It was canceled again in 2020, due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

UPDATE: In 2023, Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia set a new record, with 2:04.58.

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September 13, 1970 was a Sunday. The NFL season began the following weekend. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Steve Hargan allowed to hits to Mel Stottlemyre's 5. Future Yankee Graig Nettles and Buddy Bradford hit home runs for the Tribe. The Yankees got only singles from Roy White and Danny Cater. Their run came on Horace Clarke reaching on an error, White's single, and an RBI groundout from Bobby Murcer.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Joe Torre hit a home run in the top of the 13th inning. Nolan Ryan, not yet a star, pitched the 5th inning for the Mets, allowing a run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 13-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Frank Robinson did not play, but Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run.

* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Joe Coleman Jr. pitched a 3-hit shutout. Rick Reichardt went 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 1-for-3. Roberto Clemente did not play, but Willie Stargell went 1-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-7 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3 with 2 walks. Rod Carew did not play.

* The Kansas City Royals swept a doubleheader from the Oakland Athletics at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Both games went to extra innings, with a score of 8-7. In the 1st game, the A's scored a run in the top of the 11th, but Lou Piniella tripled home 2 runs in the bottom half.

In the 2nd game, the A's scored 7 runs in the 2nd inning, but the Royals tied the game in the 8th, and Ed Kirkpatrick singled Jackie Hernández home in the 12th. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson went 6-for-9 with a home run, 2 walks and 3 RBIs.

* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-6 at the Astrodome in Houston. Hank Aaron went 0-for-2 with a walk before being replaced.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Pete Rose with a home run. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 5-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Dodgers scored 4 runs in the top of the 10th, including a home run by former Giants catcher Tom Haller. The Giants scored 2 in the bottom of the 10th, but it wasn't enough.