Behind the Scenes, a Race of Logistics

With more than 43,000 participants, 2.5 million spectators and a course that stretches over 26.2 miles and 5 boroughs, the New York City Marathon is more than a sporting event, it is a vast international spectacle.

Peter Ciaccia, the senior vice president for event development at New York Road Runners, sometimes has trouble coming up with the right analogy for describing the size of the race.

But one parallel, he said, is imagining what it is like at Madison Square Garden when the Knicks and the Rangers play on the same day. After 20,000 fans file out after the basketball game, the court has to be removed, the arena cleaned and the rink prepared for a hockey game a few hours later, when another 20,000 fans will arrive.

Of course, that is all done indoors, does not involve the police department, an army of paramedics, thousands of volunteers and runners from around the world who do not speak English as a first language.

“We believe this is the greatest sporting event in the world for one day,” Ciaccia said a few weeks ago. “It’s on par with the Olympics. We’re putting New York City on a platform.”

To any doubters, Ciaccia provides statistics. To get to the starting line, runners will board 12 ferries leaving from Manhattan. About 500 buses will take runners to the start at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island from points in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Long Island, New Jersey and beyond.

(For what it’s worth, 56 percent of the entrants last year were married and 36 percent were single. The rest were divorced, partners or widowed.)

At the start on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, there will be 1,694 portable toilets, 42,000 PowerBars, 90,000 bottles of water and 563 pounds of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee beans, enough to make 45,000 cups. About 500 volunteers will collect more than 10 tons of sweat suits, sleeping bags and Snuggies, much of which will be cleaned and given to charities. The bridge must be cleared within an hour of the last runner’s leaving. More than 70 United Parcel Service trucks will take the athletes’ belongings to the finish line.

Along the course, 62,370 gallons of water and 32,040 gallons of Gatorade will be served in 2.3 million paper cups that can now be recycled, thanks to new technology. Another 60,000 PowerBar Gel packets will be available at Mile 18.

About 11 tons of trash will be collected at the 24 fluid stations, much of it cardboard, plastic jugs and cups. The 24 station “captains” have more than 400 years of experience combined. Along the course, 137 bands (all vetted by New York Road Runners) will perform on dozens of stages. Runners can check their times on the 106 clocks on the course.

Among the more than 6,000 volunteers on race day are medical workers at the 38 aid stations. They will have on hand 11,410 pounds of ice, 13,475 bandages, 57,059 salt packages and 390 tubs of Vaseline. They will have 435 cots and 30 defibrillators that, hopefully, will not be needed.

In all, 1,200 vehicles will be used during the race, including many assembled into convoys that clean the course as runners push ahead. School buses will pick up stragglers. Runners who make it to the finish will be handed one of the 52,000 medals, and possibly one of the 60,000 heat sheets and 52,000 food bags.

Jim Heim, who works with Ciaccia, said the Road Runners operations staff was “a well-oiled machine,” in part, because it has hosted events throughout the year. But he acknowledged that “at every event, there’s something that is going to go wrong.”