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NYRR Has a Year Round Impact in Staten Island

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BYNYRR Staff
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On October 12, nearly 10,000 runners will toe the line for the NYRR Staten Island Half. This race, the sixth and final event in the NYRR Five-Borough Series, is New York Road Runners’ premier event in Staten Island. The course takes runners on a tour of the borough with stunning views of New York Harbor and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

You can learn more about the 2025 NYRR Staten Island Half course here.

This year's event includes the second-annual Rising NYRR at the NYRR Staten Island Half for youth ages 2–11 in scenic SIUH Community Park. Register for free here.

Just three weeks later, more than 55,000 runners will gather in Staten Island for the TCS New York City Marathon, which has started in Staten Island annually since 1976 when it became a five-borough event.

A Year-Round Presence in Staten Island

Runners on treelined street in 2024 NYRR Staten Island Half

New York Road Runners has an impact in Staten Island all year long through programming and free opportunities for runners of all ages and abilities to achieve in the borough. Here’s a breakdown of the impact:

  • NYRR Open Run (pictured below) hosts free, weekly community-led runs at Conference House Park in Staten Island that are regularly attended by more than 50 community members of all ages, abilities, and experience levels.
  • Rising New York Road Runners is NYRR's free running-based youth program that helps more than 4,800 students from Staten Island build the skills, confidence, and desire to be physically active for life.
  • NYRR Striders is a free walking and fitness program that helps more than 70 Staten Island-based older adults lead a more active life and meet new people in their community across sites at Anderson Neighborhood Senior Center and West Brighton Neighborhood Senior Center.
  • NYRR Race Free provides race fee assistance and training to those who financially qualify to make running more accessible for 1,000 participants, including more than 20 Staten Island residents, with complimentary race entries to events including the NYRR Staten Island Half and the TCS New York City Marathon.
Runners at start of NYRR Open Run Conference House Park in March 2024

Notable Locals and Other New Yorkers

This year’s NYRR Staten Island Half will feature several notable local Staten Island runners, including Vinny Guadagnino, a television personality best known for MTV's “Jersey Shore” who is originally from Staten Island and is running the race for the second consecutive year; and Tiki Barber, the former New York Giants running back running with Francesco Magisano, a blind elite para-triathlete and the NYC metro director of Achilles International.

Several members of the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon Team Inspire, a group of 26 marathon runners with some of compelling, moving, and inspiring stories, will also run:

  • Karen Bdera of Queens started running in 1984 after she saw a bus advertisement for the New York Mini 10K, has since completed more than 700 NYRR races, and will run her 25th New York City Marathon this year.
  • Relly Ladner of Manhattan became paralyzed from the waist down and was told she might never walk again after being diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome in high school, but defied the odds and is now training for her first marathon.
  • Salvador Raffucci of Brooklyn is member of New York Road Runners’ Striders walking and fitness program for older adults who uses running to maintain his sobriety in recovery.
  • Yelena Shtyrkalo of Brooklyn is a district coordinator for public middle schools in Brooklyn that are part of the Rising New York Road Runners Middle School Expansion Initiative to increase access to running.

Two notable running clubs that call Staten Island home are Staten Island AC, one of the oldest running clubs in the New York–metro area; and Club Atlético Hispano Correcaminos, a club founded in 2012 that supports members of all abilities. To find a club anywhere in the New York City area, visit our club directory; you can filter by location and type (social or competitive).

Staten Island was also home to a beloved member of NYRR, Art Hall, who dominated the NYRR race scene in the 1970s through 1990s and was inducted into the NYRR Hall of Fame in 2022.

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