Mission
Mission
The Holiday Marathons was born between running friends on a long run in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York. The Holiday Marathons’ mission is to stage community-supported running events that bring together new and experienced runners in the local community to showcase the community’s parks and promote the adoption of healthier habits on all major holidays.
The Holiday Marathons is now expanding its vision beyond Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Imagine a national movement where holidays mean healthier habits, being active and coming together for a run. We are always interested in talking with communities who share our vision.
The Holiday Marathons will never charge runners large fees. Our goal is to be supported by those interested in helping us celebrate running and good health. We are always interested in talking with individuals and other organizations who share our vision.
We hope you will join us in an upcoming run! Happy Holidays from all of us at The Holiday Marathons!
Timeline
November 2010- The Holiday Marathons concept was born on a run between friends.
- The Holiday Marathons developed a ¼ marathon trail loop on the Putman Trail, OCA and cross-country trails in Van Cortlandt Park.
- The Thanksgiving Marathon, The Holiday Marathons first event, took place in Van Cortlandt Park.
- The Holiday Marathons applied for permits for and hosted 7 free races in Van Cortlandt Park.
- The Holiday Marathons developed ways to further support the community through donations to local organizations and running clubs, gift drives on Christmas and food drives on Thanksgiving.
- The Holiday Marathons events grew in popularity from around 200 per run to over 400.
- The Holiday Marathons only received 1 permit of 10 applied for through Parks.
- Holiday Marathons founders started the Save the Putnam Trail Campaign, requesting that the Parks Department not pave the historic Putnam Trail inside Van Cortlandt Park.
- The Van Cortlandt Park Administrator, Margot Perron, called The Holiday Marathons founders in for a meeting to discuss the future of The Holiday Marathons runs.
- Parks claimed not to have received previous permit applications and voiced many concerns.
- The Holiday Marathons has had an increasingly difficult time dealing with The New York City Parks Department.
- Parks started to pay more attention to The Holiday Marathons runs and the organization as a whole came under scrutiny.
- The Holiday Marathons continued to grow in popularity through its online following and at events.
- Receiving approval for permits can take months. Approval for the Second Annual Thanksgiving Marathon was received the day before the event.
- Major changes are required at the last minute. A call was received the night before the Thanksgiving Marathon stating an alternative course was required.
- Parks held The Holiday Marathons to new standards and had to work with both Bronx offices and Central Park offices to obtain permits.
- Multiple permits are now necessary to host the event and hand out free fruit and water.
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- Expensive insurance naming additional parties is required.
- The organization must give all donations collected to recoup costs of its free events to a 501c3 organization to be considered a charitable event with affordable permit fees.
- $1000 trash and clean up deposits must be made.
- Parks staff must be onsite and the organization must pay their overtime salaries.
- Port-o-sans must be delivered and picked up the same day, despite the park having multiple bathrooms open and available.
- Spectators must be included in participant numbers used to calculate permit costs.
- Course marshals and medical units must be placed along the courses.
- The organization must submit a questionnaire, a safety plan and a production plan.
- Hosting an event requires an 18-page contract from Central Park offices.
- The Holiday Marathons received its first permit denial letter from Parks for the Second Annual Christmas race because, “the proposed event is of such a nature that it cannot reasonably be accommodated in that location.”
- New regulations and costs force The Holiday Marathons to look for alternative locations and review its business model.
- The Holiday Marathons will expand geographically and host its first run in Tibbets Brook Park on Christmas morning.
- The Holiday Marathons goal remains to benefit the community and showcase its beautiful public parks to new and experienced runners and to develop healthier habits on the holidays.
- The Holiday Marathon’s goal has always been to expand and have local running clubs host holiday races simultaneously in multiple communities across the country. Van Cortlandt Track Club is excited to host future holiday races in Van Cortlandt Park.
Please write us with questions or comments. Thank you for your support and happy running!
You may also reach out to Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Mayor Michael Bloomberg with your concerns regarding the permit denial.
Management Team
Mike Arnstein
Mike Arnstein began running as a young teenager. Now more than 2 decades later he’s still running, and looking for new ways to give back to a sport that has given him so much. An accomplished competitive runner from distances ranging 1600 meter to well over 100 miles, his resume is long and impressive. Having competed in hundreds of races, more than 60 marathons, dozens of ultra-marathons and beyond, his accomplished running carrier is now focused on running for the sake of running, for health and for happiness.
The goal of bringing the benefits of better health through running to more people is his inspiration behind The Holiday Marathons and its mission. “I felt a need to give back, to celebrate some of the simpler joys in life. Running on holidays, in a community setting, without the traditional high fees and requirements of other competitive races was a niche that needed to be filled. The Holiday Marathons is bringing the purity back to why we run. I’m just the person who was in a position to do the right thing, to make it happen, so I did.”
Michael Oliva
Michael began running in 2005 to become healthier and more active. Through the Achilles Track Club, he guided blind and disabled runners in events, including the LA, Hartford, Boston and NYC Marathons. His passion for running grew after seeing the benefits enjoyed by so many people. In the ensuing 6 years, Michael completed over 40 marathons and 20 ultra-marathons, including four 100 mile races.
His desire to create a grass roots running event in NYC developed after seeing so many successful locally organized events around the country. The desire to create events where new people could enter the sport of running for low to no cost and without pressure or requirements was his inspiration for starting The Holiday Marathons in Van Cortlandt Park.
Michael worked for 4 years as an advocate with the East Coast Greenway. He helped create policies and acquire funding to make streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians in NYC, Newark, Philadelphia, DC and many other cities. He currently works as a licensed Real Estate Broker serving all of Westchester County. Michael is also active as a volunteer with Daniels Music Foundation and the Achilles Track Club.
Megan T. Kelly
Megan began running in second grade with a local group and traveled to Hershey Track meets around New England. She ran track and cross-country in High School then took a break through College and Business School and started running again after moving to New York City in 2007.
Megan joined a local running club in September 2009. She was named an organizer in the summer of 2010. As a leader, Megan was a great advocate for the discipline of training, using both traditional and novel techniques to develop the team into a competitive group among NYRR clubs. Megan is the rare person who can both teach and do. Megan is competitive in all distances from the mile to 50k and was named the team’s Woman Runner of the Year in 2010.
Megan joined The Holiday Marathons in September 2011 as a way to give back to the running community. Her goal is to bring more people to the sport, encouraging them to learn from and love running as she does. Above all, she hopes to encourage people to embrace good health and believe in themselves and what amazing things they are capable of with a little passion, focus and hard work.
Committed Volunteers & Supporters:
Hiroshi Kitada, Jeff Lin, Richard Chung, Atsede Aemro-Selassie, Ben Ko, Van Cortlandt Track Club