byJeff BenjaminIf you have ever, ever run a race in the city of New York since 1977, you have experienced the love and devotion to running that Allan Steinfeld possessed. Allan Steinfeld is one of the main reasons why the NYRR is so damn successful.
Allan Steinfeld was the yin to Fred Lebow’s yang. Allan kept Fred from going completely bonkers. Fred Lebow believed that running would be big, well, not big, HUGE. I remember speaking a potential NYRR sponsor from 1975. Fred asked the sponsor for $5000 to sponsor a marathon. The guy thought he was nuts. Eleven years later, they spent six figures to sponsor the same marathon. Fred was an evangelist.
Allan Steinfeld, photo courtesy of NYRR
Allan Steinfeld made the New York Road Runners the top running club in the world. The evolution of the New York City marathon would not have happened without the creativity of Allan Steinfeld and his team. Allan and his wife, Alice Scheider, spent most of their waking hours making the New York City marathon a better event.
Allan died in February 2017. For about 20 years, every time I came to the NYC, I would visit with Allan, letting him know what I was up to, what was going on in the sport. He provided thoughtful comments and gave me an opinion I might now hear.
Allan Steinfeld had an amazing smile. He could smile (and translate) anything that Fred Lebow said. This weekend, while 30,000 runners run through the Five Boroughs, the spirits of Fred Lebow, Alice Schneider and Allan Steinfeld will be smiling, on the course, knowing that things at the 50th NYC Marathon went, well, ‘pretty well”.
Left to right–Art Hall, Jeff Benjamin–SIAC President at the time, Alan Steinfeld-NYRRC, Tom Fleming—2 time NYC Marathon Winner ,Abel Kiviat, Fred Lebow, Judge Brennan, Jim Higgins–SIAC VP at the time
This is Chapter #5, Allan Steinfeld Remembered…
Jeff Benjamin wrote this piece for RunBlogRun. It was rememberences of Allan Steinfeld from some of the key people in the sport.
To learn more about Allan Steinfeld, please check this one out: Allan Steinfeld: Considering an Amazing Life…
Grete Waitz, Allan Steinfeld and Bill Rodgers, photo courtesy of NYRR
