Mary Wittenberg

Mary Wittenberg
(L to R) New York Road Runners CEO and President Mary Wittenberg and Marathon Record Holder Paula Radcliffe at the 2007 ING New York City Marathon press conference.
Born	Mary Robertson (1962-07-17) July 17, 1962 (age 54) Buffalo, NY, US
Residence	New York, NY
Occupation	formerly President and CEO of New York Road Runners

Mary Wittenberg (née Robertson) was the President and Chief Executive Officer of New York Road Runners (NYRR) through May 18, 2015. Wittenberg oversaw the TCS New York City Marathon and several other races, events, and programs that draw over 300,000 yearly participants.

Under Wittenberg's leadership, NYRR helped develop new initiatives such as the World Marathon Majors Series and several community programs that have introduced running to underprivileged children. For her efforts related to the TCS New York City Marathon, an article in the New York Times stated that Wittenberg "has transformed the New York City Marathon from traditional to competitive to innovative."

A former competitive runner, Wittenberg won the 1987 Marine Corps Marathon. She participates in many NYRR races.

Wittenberg was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in a large and athletic Irish Catholic family. She was the oldest of seven children, and played softball, baseball and basketball—sports that her father coached. In high school, she focused on cheerleading, and also starred on a champion West Side Rowing Club team. Wittenberg went on to attend Canisius College, and was a coxswain for the men's crew team that won a championship for small colleges.

During her senior year in College, Wittenberg took up running. She won a few local races and trained with Canisius' men's cross country team. Wittenberg also trained with the men's cross country team while attending law school at University of Notre Dame. While training with this group, she finished 16th at the Chicago Marathon with a time of 2:46.

After law school, Wittenberg moved to Richmond, Virginia to work for the Hunton & Williams law firm. She would spend busy days working in the office, marathon training with the University of Richmond cross country team, and studying to pass the bar. In 1987, she won the Marine Corps Marathon in a time of 2:44:34. Wittenberg used a late surge to overtake the leaders in the second half of the race.