Closing Shot: It’s a marathon, not a sprint

As president of events for the New York Road Runners, Peter Ciaccia has played a key role in each of the more than 50 functions the running organization holds each year.nyrr

It’s Nov. 5, 2017, sometime between 9 and 10 p.m., and the final runners of the TCS New York City Marathon are entering Central Park. Those gathered at the finish line, ready to greet the last of the finishers, include Shalane Flanagan who hours prior became the first American woman to win the event in 40 years.

And that’s just part of what makes the world’s largest marathon so special, according to longtime race director Peter Ciaccia, who announced in May that he will retire following this year’s marathon after spending 18 years with the New York Road Runners, the nonprofit that organizes the race.

“It’s a privilege to get to do what I do every day and I work with a great team,” he said. “I have worked with great people over the years. And we see there is so much more this organization is going to be doing.”

As president of events for NYRR, Ciaccia plays a crucial role in the 50-plus functions that the running organization hosts throughout the year. And with the New York City Marathon this Sunday, he plans to spend much of the day by the finish line.

Ciaccia celebrates with Shalane Flanagan, who in 2017 became the first American woman to win the marathon since 1977.nyrr

“That’s going to be the most emotional moment,” said Ciaccia, who typically camps out at mile 26.2 in Central Park to greet the majority of the runners and hand them their medals.

When asked why he does this for even the ordinary runners and not just the professionals, he answers: “I want this to be so memorable and for it to be so exciting for them as they come into Central Park, into the finish line. … We want people to come to our events and walk away from our events just blown away. [And say], ‘That was the greatest thing we ever did.’ ”

An avid runner himself, the 65-year-old Ciaccia has had to, ironically so, put much of that part of his life on hold with NYRR events filling up his weeks and weekends. But with retirement on the horizon, he is eager to “travel, run, hang out with the family” and hand over the reins to Jim Heim, senior vice president of event development. Heim, who has been with NYRR since 2007, is also the technical director for the marathon.

“Maybe I’ll watch from afar, but I will not interfere,” Ciaccia said. “And that’s kind of what [life] is about. It’s a little bit of taking care of the first stakeholder, which is me.”