The NYC Marathon: The Power of Togetherness

Yesterday was the 52nd edition of the TCS New York City Marathon, one of my favorite days of the year to be a Manhattanite. This year’s event, the largest marathon of 2023 with 51,402 finishers, felt particularly inspiring in juxtaposition to the political, economic and humanitarian challenges that exist for so many right now. There were 148 countries represented and nearly 17,000 international finishers. ?

I spend a great deal of time each week speaking with business leaders about their literal and metaphorical “world views,” and a common sentiment of late has been disheartenment rooted in i) perspective polarization and ii) the perpetuation of deeply individualistic mindsets. To be clear, most leaders also acknowledge that open discourse is important, and technology has enabled today’s workforce to better balance professional and personal priorities.

Back to the NYC Marathon. For the first two hours yesterday, I was stationed solo on 62nd Street and First Avenue, cheering for the professional athletes and some of my faster friends. When I would loudly cheer for a named individual, strangers to my left and right would join me in yelling their name and making noise. Some strangers even took a personal interest, asking questions such as, “Is your friend the one in the black or the orange?”. It is rare and powerful to see strangers (bystanders) take a genuine interest selflessly supporting and learning about other strangers (participants). The same level of enthusiasm and “buy in” to the event does occur by spectating the event on TV.

98.98% of runners who started the marathon completed the race, an awe-inspiring statistic for something so hard, and of such significant participatory scale. I like to station myself on mile 23, which many runners claim to be the hardest segment of any marathon. This is particularly true in New York where miles 20-22 tend to be the quietest and involve a climb up Fifth Avenue from the Bronx. Each year at this juncture I see a handful of runners fumble, faint and collapse. Many of them receive EMS support, and most of them continue to collect themselves and gather the emotional and physical willpower to complete the race.

The loudest cheering does not occur for the professionals. The crowd invests most in supporting the participants – irrespective of pace/time – when the participants raise their hands as a gesture to ask the crowd to increase the volume and provide support. I believe the crowd sees this as vulnerable leadership. I could not tell you when any of these cheerleaders finished their respective races, but in each instance, the crowd bought into the ask and answered the call.

After each marathon, it moves me to hear from friends and colleagues that witnessing my cheering from the sidelines was an energizing catalyst while working through the “pain cave.” The power of a familiar face, and perhaps the internal desire to “show up” for friends, family members and colleagues is tremendous. People want to want to feel and be seen, especially when they have invested (frequently invisibly) in the training to do something awe-inspiring.

TLDR key takeaways below, applied to my day job of helping tenants and landlords determine the value of in-person collaboration at an office:

• The world feels more fragmented than most can remember in recent history, and many executives believe that i) energy and focus increase when humans gather, ii) challenging conversations are hard (but necessary), and they tend to be more productive in-person rather than over email/Slack, and iii) commutes/the “sacrifice” of office work are challenging realities, but if work has purpose, collectively working towards goals has real value.
• Spontaneous interactions create bonds. We (humans) do better when we care about strangers, and when strangers become friends and trusted colleagues. Finding commonality creates a sense of participation and purpose, which we all crave.
• The hardest obstacles provide the greatest sense of accomplishment when they are overcome. The exhausting and invisible daily motions give so much more power and meaning to the important day with crowds, colleagues, prospective clients, etc.
• Leaders don’t have to be professional athletes or C-Suite executives to effectuate change or drive progress. The individuals who recognize that the team/crowd can be louder and do better bring inspiration to the masses when they raise their hands and enthusiastically ask for more.
• Showing up matters more than you would ever expect. Other than the return of commutes, the single biggest obstacle our team hears about RTO initiatives is the lack of next-level-up management to provide visibility and mentorship. Ultimately, everyone just wants to feel seen, appreciated and inspired.

In April 2023 I remember a NY Post article titled, “NYC is Dead Forever, Here’s Why.” I couldn’t help but smile watching the 51,402 finishers push through the five boroughs on Sunday with two million spectators cheering them on. There are many local, domestic and international obstacles we need to address, but I have conviction that we will do so more effectively when we continue to find ways to come together.

To all those who participated, congratulations on your terrific accomplishments. To those who showed up to cheer from the sidelines, I know all of the participants hugely appreciate you.

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