The New York City Marathon: the social impacts of a mega-event

Harris, G. & Busby, G. (2008) Proceedings of the 2nd ITSA conference - Globalisation, Tourism and Development: mega-events and urban tourism, Shanghai, 9-12 November 2008, ISBN 9789881795113, pp72-78

Large events produce both positive (Emery, 2002) and negative impacts which affect the local community (Fredline, 2004). Previous research has predominantly assessed economic impacts (Hiller, 1998) and, therefore, this study concentrates on the social impacts of the New York Marathon, a logical point of study as it is the world’s largest single day sporting event (Anon, no date) and there is growing acknowledgment that such impacts can be substantial (Fredline and Faulkner 2000). Social impacts are so significant that they should be studied first (Krippendorf, 1987); whilst Getz and Fairley (2004) studied the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, there appears to be no research on the New York marathon’s social impacts, therefore this study is important especially as the number of those taking part increases annually. In total, 171 residents in the five boroughs, through which the route runs, were interviewed through a closed questionnaire; some qualitative research and observation was also undertaken. It was concluded that the marathon is, undoubtedly, a mega-event as it is able to attract tourism and has an impact upon the local community. These impacts included an increased sense of pride among the residents and in Manhattan residents believed that media presence would boost tourism to the city. Negative impacts included a greater difficulty in parking due to road closures and more vehicles entering the city on race day. In the poorer boroughs it was found that residents felt that money could have been spent on more important projects. The severity of the impacts generally decreased the further the respondent lived from the marathon route. Resident responses were predominantly positive towards its presence – due to its entertainment value and it lasting only one day in length.

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