President and CEO, New York Road Runners and Race Director, ING New York City Marathon

In 2005, Mary Wittenberg became the president and CEO of New York Road Runners and the race director of the ING New York City Marathon, succeeding Allan Steinfeld. Wittenberg follows the late Fred Lebow and Steinfeld at the helm of the most celebrated marathon and the premier road running organization in the world. In addition to its crown jewel, the ING New York City Marathon, NYRR runs youth programs for more than 100,000 kids in schools and community centers in New York City, across the country, and in South Africa; produces more than 70 annual races; offers classes, clinics, and lectures in running and fitness; and publishes New York Runner magazine. Initiatives under Wittenberg’s leadership have included creating the World Marathon Majors along with the directors of marathons in Boston, London, Berlin, and Chicago; organizing the first annual National Running Day, hosting the 2006 USA Cross Country Championships in Van York City in November 2007; and expanding NYRR’s commitment to youth running through the NYRR Foundation. Wittenberg, 47, became associate race director of the marathon in 2004 in addition to her duties as executive vice president and chief operating officer of New York Road Runners, a position she had held since 2000. Steinfeld hired Wittenberg in 1998 and they worked together on all aspects of the organization and marathon. Wittenberg is the first female president and CEO of New York Road Runners and the first woman to lead one of the world’s major marathons. Prior to her arrival at NYRR she was a partner at the law firm Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Virginia, and New York City. Wittenberg is a 1984 graduate of Canisius College in Buffalo and received her law degree in 1987 from Notre Dame Law School. Wittenberg won the 1987 Marine Corps Marathon in 2:44 and competed in the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon. Wittenberg and her husband, Derek, have two sons, Alex, 8, and Cary, 6, and live just a quick run from Central Park, in Manhattan.

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