Races and Restaurants

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📬 Today: Ted Metellus, of New York Road Runners, on directing the New York City Marathon, diversity, and dining.

Races and restaurants

A line from the book Unreasonable Hospitality stopped Ted Metellus in his tracks during a recent run.

The restaurateur Will Guidara once interviewed a woman for a job and asked her the difference between service and hospitality. “Service is black and white,” she replied. “Hospitality is color.” 

Metellus played the line again, immediately drawing parallels with his job. He is not a chef, server, or maître d', but director of the New York City Marathon, and chief event production officer at New York Road Runners (NYRR). 

There are certain pillars of every race – the start line, mile markers, split points, aid stations, medical stations, and the finish line – which, like getting the right meal to the right table at the right time, organizers just need to deliver. “All the logistical components are black and white,” Metellus told The Footprint. “But the experience is the color.” 

Elevating a race for thousands of runners, volunteers and spectators requires going beyond the basics, considering everything from entertainment around the course to the shape of the medals. “You look at all of the little things, the color, that makes the experience that much better,” he said.

There is one big thing, though, which continues to frustrate many runners in New York and beyond. As demand for races continues to surge, the top 100 in the US recorded a 15% rise in finishers between July and December – but just getting to the start line is a challenge in and of itself, with many NYRR events selling out fast.

Metellus described meeting this demand as the toughest part of his job. “A business person would say it's a good problem to have,” he said. “But a person of service says it's a problem.” 

NYRR, a non-profit, is “looking at – okay – what can we do? What can be done to address this here?”: whether it can add more races, or grow the field sizes of the events already on its books, Metellus said. “But you can only grow a race by so much.”

In the meantime, it is also focused on other offerings that Metellus likens to a “to go” hatch from a restaurant, from virtual races and open run events to programs for kids and seniors. 

“We have a couple of really interesting projects that we're cooking – behind the scenes secret secret stuff – that will help introduce more people to running, with a low barrier of entry, so they can experience this first-hand as well,” he said. “It is a challenge, but one that we are putting the work in to see how we can resolve.” 

Confronting this problem is necessary because, as far as Metellus is concerned, the running boom has yet to show signs of losing steam. “It does have legs, and it will continue to run,” he said. 

Running has “grown in a way I've never seen before,” he added, pointing to the new clubs and crews drawing in different people, races, cultures and backgrounds at the sport’s grassroots. “The growth of running from a community level has contributed tremendously to the growth of running on a diversity level.”

Amplifying a wider variety of stories has also helped draw in a wider variety of runners. “The only time people thought they saw people of color run was when they were breaking the tape,” Metellus chuckled. There is power, he said, in people seeing people who look like them throughout the pack.

Metellus, the first Black race director of a World Marathon Major, was born and raised in the Bronx. Running crept into his life organically; racing other kids around the block, before a few years of track and cross country at high school.

It played an important role in his early years, but not long ago running executives were concerned the sport was struggling to lure a new generation. Before Covid-19, “we weren't attracting young people to get out there and run,” said Metellus. Times have changed. “We're seeing more young people running and engaging and connecting than we've ever seen before.” 

Metellus himself can’t take part in most NYRR events. Only 5K races, where the winners finish in about 17 minutes and the start line stays open for 20, give him enough time to open the race, welcome the winner, and then jump in. 

He makes a point of exploring other big events – from major marathons and races to the US Open and food festivals – to see how they are creating color, and last month finished his 45th half marathon in Miami, Florida. “I loved it,” he said. “Running other races is kind of like being a chef that eats at another restaurant.”

A few weeks ago The Footprint spoke to Connie Brown, who has run the NYC Marathon 44 times. There are more than 1,500 people, from 40 countries, with a streak of more than 15 consecutive years at the race. 

“What's beautiful,” said Metellus, “is just how diverse this group is – where they're all coming from, what their backgrounds are, what their stories are. Why did you do this the first time, the second time, or the 44th time?” 

There is a “absolutely a point” in every marathon where almost every runner thinks “I'm never doing this again,” Metellus said. But then, for so many, the certainty of this statement softens. It shifts. Before long, it’s replaced: “I'm gonna do this again.” 

He laughed. “That's a magical thing.” 

AROUND AND ABOUT

⏱️ Even Jacob Kiplimo seemed surprised. The Ugandan finished last weekend's Barcelona Half Marathon in 56 minutes and 42 seconds – breaking the men's world record by the best part of a minute. “That's astonishing,” he said afterwards.

✏️ Drawing feels a lot like running to Brooklyn artist Brent Adams. “Both are perpetual and are driven by a sense of curiosity, where the pursuit is the purpose,” he writes in an essay exploring what really matters: the result, or the act itself.

💰 What if running apparel was cheaper? Terignota, a trail running brand, is trying to make the sport more accessible by selling clothes at lower prices. Matt Walsh interviewed its founder, Alex King, for Trailmix.

👟 Nike looks to the future. In a US patent filing this month, the footwear giant detailed plans for an electronic shoe with “fluid movement controllers and adjustable foot support pressure,” Chris Foster reports in Outside.

📍 Cornwall, UK: Sunrise from the dunes behind Rock Beach, along the South West Coast Path. One of my favorite places to run.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think: just hit ‘reply,’ or email me.

Have a great weekend.

– Callum