At the 53rd running of this world-famous event on Nov. 3, the International Minyan for NYC marathoners had the largest turnout in its 40-year history, drawing participants from states as far as California and countries as far distant as South Africa, with large turnouts from Israel and France.
Organizers estimate that more than 300 people attended their “rolling” services, which started at 6:30 a.m. and were repeated over several hours to accommodate the five waves of starts for the more than 50,000 entrants in the world’s most famous long-distance race. At some point, minyan-goers were standing shoulder to shoulder in the 600-square-foot tent provided by the race manager, New York Road Runners.
New York Road Runners’s president Rob Simmelkjaer visited the minyan tent, reprising a custom practiced by his predecessor and “father” of the New York City Marathon, Fred Lebow. It was Lebow who authorized the first minyan in 1983, and three years later acceded to the request from organizers to move the date of the Marathon permanently from October to November where it could never conflict with a Jewish holiday. Ever since, all participants in this event have benefited from the cooler weather and the bonus of an extra hour of sleep on the eve of the race as we change our clocks to standard time.
Lebow’s 30th yahrzeit will be observed on the fourth of Cheshvan, two days after this year’s race.
One member of this year’s team of 10 volunteers joked that praying with this minyan can shave 30 minutes off your race time. While that may be debatable, organizers do believe that of the thousands of runners who have joined the minyan throughout the years, none has ever failed to finish the course.
Several Jewish-related charity teams and running clubs were registered for this year’s marathon and their members were represented at the minyan, among them were: American Friends of Shalva, Chai Lifeline, Friendship Circle International, Israel Cancer Research Fund, Jewish Association Serving the Aging, Keren Or, Sharsheret, The Blue Card and Nice Jewish Runners.
The haftorah for Parshat Lech Lecha, which is being read in synagogues this week, contains a phrase that has long been the motto of the minyan: For those who trust in God, yarutzu v’lo yiyga-u, “they will run and not grow tired.”
The Minyan for NYC Marathoners is believed to be the longest-established religious service at a major sporting event, anywhere in the world. The mood at this year’s gathering was somewhat dampened by the news that minyan co-founder Rabbi Jim Michaels had recently passed away at his home in Rockville, Md. Michaels and co-director, Peter Berkowsky of Livingston, N.J., started the service in 1983, thinking there might be some runners who needed a minyan to say kaddish on race morning. Surprisingly, of the thousands of participants during the last 40 years, who have come from virtually every state in the country and six continents, very few have had to say kaddish.
The mission of the minyan has always been to provide a venue for Jewish runners to pray. But the goal, in the words of minyan co-director Yisroel Davidsohn, is to see that this tradition continues for at least another 40 years.
