Anything For a T-Shirt: Fred Lebow and the New York City Marathon, the World's Greatest Footrace

Sports and Entertainment

by Ron Rubin

Fred Lebow was a dreamer, the kind of dreamer who pursued his dream and made it a reality. And the world is still reaping its rewards.” So begins this inspiring chronicle of a humbly born Holocaust survivor who parlayed natural marketing smarts—and vision—into a major position in recent American sports. He started the New York City Marathon, an event that transformed footracing from an elite, austere sport into a wildly applauded, attainable pursuit for all. Forging a path across the city’s five boroughs, the marathon covers a daunting 26.2-mile course. Ron Rubin’s fascinating book tells how Lebow popularized the race. With a stroke of marketing wizardry he turned it into the world’s largest block a gritty mixture of urban theater and kindly entrepreneurship. This event has honored the spirit of the moment, imbued competition with joy, and celebrated play. It put winning within the realm of every man and woman and became a race for all runners. Lebow mainstreamed the notion of marathoning into popular culture; some half-million Americans now participate in the events. Equally significant, the book describes how Lebow scored his greatest personal victory by running in the marathon he created after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2004

Reviews

[Carianne Carleo-Evangelist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fitting that I finished this on Valentine’s Day, because I love Fred. It’s amazing what he accomplished with his dream of creating the marathon - and how his legacy lives on with the race and Fred’s Team. Some new to me details about Fred and a lot new about JoeK and other NYRR founding fathers

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a truly great read about a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his dream! That man was Fred Lebow and the dream was to create the greatest marathon in the world! In 1989 I ran the NYC and then I was fortunate enough to be there that day in 1992 that Fred Lebow ran the race he created. He had run hundreds of marathons but never ran the one he created! 4 years earlier Fred was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was given 6 months to live and 4 years later he was running the NYC marathon with Grete Waitz. I was there with my wife standing along Central Park south cheering Fred and Grete on that chilly November morning!
I really appreciated getting some more incite into Fred Lebow and how a Holocaust survivor from Hungary went from a "knockoff" suit salesman from the garment district to creating the best marathon in the world!

[Martin]

I love any story - fiction or otherwise - where a person wants something, then stops at nothing to go out and get it. I'm like that, and I admire it in other people. Fred Lebow exemplified this ideal, and after reading this story, my admiration for him went straight off the scale. As for the storytelling itself, the author could have reached for a thesaurus every once in a while, and had a weird habit of re-introducing certain people in full every time he mentioned them in new chapters, but the research was impeccable and the story itself awe-inspiring, so I have no complaints.

[Julia B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I desperately wanted to like this book. Fred LeBow was an incredible man and his story is fascinating. As a runner, it is so rewarding to read about the impact that he had on distance running. I will certainly think of him the next time I compete in a road race. That said, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. It is repetitive and uncreative, at times almost distracting from the excitement of LeBow's accomplishments. A story well-worth reading, I just wish it had been written by somebody else.

[Xue Yun · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book too much. However, while reading this book, i can perfectly understand the desire Fred had to win that marathon T-shirt. It seems as i the marathon is a symbol of his own life. Even though he is struggling with brain cancer, he did not give up on runing in the marathon. This shows how even though he have brain cancer, he will not give up his life. He will live his life until whenthe end really comes.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you've run the NYC marathon, or any marathon for that matter, you know all about the hard work that you put in for that shirt.

However, this book isn't quite as good as the t-shirt and Fred Lebow is.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was interesting as a runner, a New Yorker and a member of NYRR to see how the marathon came to be. The backstory about LeBow was interesting and all new to me.

However, it kind of read like a text book and therefore almost took me a year to complete.

[Pat (AZ Realtor) 480-840-7166 · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this doesn't make you want to run the NYC Marathon, then you probably aren't a long distance runner. It will also make you aware that Fred LeBow is the father of the modern, everyone can run Marathon and that all us runners owe him a big debt of gratitude.

[LenLen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked the book a little at first, the author was my college professor, however, it became unbearable in the end. I don't understand why this book was so important to read for my political science class. I understood the correlation, but a 5 minute lesson would have made it clear.