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NEW YORK -- Forty years ago, the worlds top two marathon runners were each handed an envelope with a check in it for $3,000 -- secret rewards for helping raise the profile of the very first five-borough New York City Marathon.It was an instant hit, a `Wow! says George Hirsch, chairman of the board of the New York Road Runners club that on Sunday hosts the 2016 race.What is now the worlds largest marathon began in 1970 when 126 men and one woman circled Central Park. Six years later, about 2,000 amateurs, including Hirsch, took the race to the streets of New York for the first time, touching all five boroughs.Leading the pack were American marathon record-holder Bill Rodgers and Olympic gold medalist Frank Shorter, paid to push the 26.2-mile run into the global spotlight. Hirsch -- then a prominent publisher -- passed them the checks under the table, he remembers.We wanted to give the most important runners in the world an incentive to be here, Hirsch says. They made a big difference.Rodgers won the first of his four New York marathons.The payments to hit the pavement certainly paid off.This year, about 50,000 people from more than 120 countries -- half of them women -- have registered. The elite athletes will be competing for a prize purse totaling $803,000, with potential time bonuses. The mens and womens champions will each receive $100,000. And $25,000 goes to the fastest competitor in a wheelchair.All eyes will be on Mary Keitany, of Kenya, last years defending champion, who also won in 2014, and last years male winner, Kenyan Stanley Biwott.Among Americans, Gwen Jorgensen, winner of the triathlon gold medal at the Rio Olympics in August, will be running her first marathon. Molly Huddle, who set a U.S. record while finishing sixth in the 10,000 meters in Rio, is making her first try at this longer distance.The star-studded American field also includes Olympians Dathan Ritzenhein and Kim Conley, who is making her marathon debut.Scattered amid the crowded, sweaty runners will be eight amateurs in their 60s and 70s -- all trailblazers in New York in 1976.Dick Traum was the first person to complete a marathon with a prosthetic leg, in 7 hours, 24 minutes. Asked to step off ahead of the thousands of others, he was the first person ever to start the five-borough marathon.I ran as if you broke your leg and had a cast, trying to get across the street quickly, hopping-style, says Traum, who has a business Ph.D. and created his own computer app company to help companies maximize their resources.At 75, hell mount his handcycle Sunday at the start line near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the borough of Staten Island. A knee replacement on his natural leg disqualifies him from actually running; one leg must be intact by the rules of the race.He lost his limb as a young man when a runaway car crashed into him at a New Jersey gas station.Traum was a member of the New York Road Runners club led by Fred Lebow, a Romanian-born New Yorker and avid runner whose dogged energy fueled the early efforts to expand and elevate the marathon to a global level. Even after his death, Lebow symbolizes the race, his statue standing near the Central Park finish line.For the citys first five-borough run, Lebow, Hirsch and Percy Sutton, Manhattans borough president, had persuaded Mayor Abe Beame to ban traffic from the route that spanned the whole city. On the sidelines were tens of thousands of spectators -- a far cry from the 2 million or so now cheering on runners.The three men told the mayor that the crime-ridden, nearly bankrupt New York of the mid-1970s needed the marathon to lift the citys spirits, Hirsch says.Rodgers and Shorters payments were legal but defied a regulation of the sports governing body, now called USA Track & Field, which classified marathoners as unpaid amateurs. Many struggled financially.New York spurred the worldwide running boom, with ordinary people huffing and puffing their way through big urban marathons that followed in London, Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai and elsewhere.The Boston Marathon is the oldest, launched in 1897.Each first Sunday in November, when exhausted participants finally finish, some collapsing into the arms of loved ones, many take away new friendships while collecting funds for more than 300 charities.Four decades after a small group of hard-core enthusiasts started it, the New York marathon has become an athletic and social democracy.In every neighborhood, spectators come at us with a lot of enthusiasm -- and that may be conga drums, it may be somebody banging on cookware, says Paul Fetscher, who ran in 1976. You get to see the best neighborhoods, you get to see the worst, you get to see the richest, you get to see the poorest, and you get to see the immigrant population of Brooklyn, where more than a million people were not born in the United States.But they all love sport, he adds. And running is the most basic of all sports: left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.In 1976, Fetscher aced the race in 2:29.At 70, still working in commercial real estate, he plans to run the 26.2 miles again. I can still do that. In how much time?Stay tuned on Sunday.Dylan Mabin Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . DeAndre Washington Jersey . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. http://www.cheapraidersjerseyschina.com/jalen-richard-jersey/ . The 18-year-old American had five birdies in her bogey-free round for a 17-under total of 196. Lee held the overnight lead but mixed three birdies with two bogeys for a 70. Wholesale Raiders Jerseys . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Raiders Jerseys Outlet . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night.Andy Murray will be looking to extend his winning run to 22 matches and book his place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals when he faces Stan Wawrinka on Friday afternoon.Murray has won both of his contests thus far in the John McEnroe Group, beating Marin Cilic in straight sets and then Kei Nishikori in a three-set epic.But he could still be eliminated if he loses to Wawrinka in straight sets and Nishikori beats Cilic in the groups other match in the evening on Friday. Murray v Stan: A battle royale Expect sparks to fly at Londons O2 Arena on Friday afternoon... Murray leads the head-to-head 9-7 against the Swiss, and has his sights set on a perfect final against Novak Djokovic that would decide the year-end No 1 ranking.I think for the tournament and stuff, for everyone interested in tennis, that would probably be the perfect way to finish the year, he said. Murray talked to Mark Petchey at the SkyPad after his victory over Nishikori For me, and Im sure for Novak, both of our goals would be to try to win the event. For him, whether thats by beating me, someone else, or, for me, if its winning against Novak or another player, it doesnt change for us as players.Murray was pushed to the limit by Nishikori in the longest three-set match in ATP World Tour Finals history, which lasted three hours and 20 minutes. John McEnroe Group W-L Sets Games Andy Murray 2-0 4-1 30-20 Kei Nishikori 1-1 3-2 27-23 Stan Wawrinka 1-1 2-2 19-24 Marin Cilic 0-2 0-4 17-26 He acknowledged afterwards that he was a bit tired, but added: You tend to feel it more the following day, in terms of stiffness and soreness in the body.dddddddddddd I was in the ice bath after the match. That obviously helps make you feel a bit better. But 10-12 hours afterwards the body starts to stiffen up. Its positive I get a days rest.After losing his first match, Wawrinka kept his hopes of progressing alive with a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3) victory over Cilic on Wednesday. Murray is one win from matching his career-best 22-match undefeated run from earlier this season, during which he won Queens, Wimbledon and Olympic gold All I know is if I want to have a chance to qualify, I need to win, he said afterwards. Thats all Im trying to do. Im going to try to play my best tennis, to beat the World No. 1. Its going to be a tough match.We played many times against each other. Hes playing his best tennis so far. Its going to be interesting. Im happy to play here in front of his home crowd. Im sure its going to be a great atmosphere.The only meeting between Murray and Wawrinka in 2016 was in the semi-finals of the French Open, with the world No 1 coming through in four sets. Watch highlights of Murrays win over Nishikori However, Wawrinka won their round-robin clash at the O2 last year 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.In the doubles match, Henri Kontinen and John Peers will be looking to make it three wins from three when they face world No 1 duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.Hugues and Mahut are already eliminated after two defeats and could slip from the top of the rankings if Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares reach the final.Kontinen and Peers are already assured of a semi-final place, having won both their matches in straight sets.Watch the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday from midday on Sky Sports 1 HD or follow on www.skysports.com.Also See:One of Murrays best-ever matchesMurray targets perfect finalWawrinka keeps hopes aliveStan sets sights on Murray Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys [ls on Friday from midday on Sky le Baseball Jerseys[/url] ' ' '