Allan Steinfeld, road racing pioneer, dies at age 70

1/25/2017

 

INDIANAPOLIS -- Former New York Marathon race director and New York Road Runners (NYRR) President and CEO Allan Steinfeld passed away on January 24, at the age of 70. Steinfeld, who received the USATF Robert Giegengack Award in 2015 for outstanding volunteerism, dedicated over thirty years to growing road racing with NYRR until his retirement in 2005 and was an important figure in the growth of the sport nationwide.

 

“Allan transformed road racing with his consummate technical direction and organizational leadership,” said USATF CEO Max Siegel. “His contributions to road racing are far-reaching. He will be missed greatly as a friend and champion of the sport.”

 

Born June 7, 1946, the New York native began volunteering with NYRR after graduating from Cornell University and joined as full-time staff in 1978 under then-CEO, friend and mentor Fred Lebow.

 

Steinfeld became the technical director of the New York City Marathon in 1981 and continued that post until 1993, when he took over as NYRR’s president during Lebow’s battle with cancer. Steinfeld added CEO and New York City Marathon race director to his responsibilities following Lebow’s passing in 1994, and remained at the top of the organization until his retirement in 2005. A member of NYRR since 1963, Steinfeld was inducted into the NYRR Hall of Fame in 2014.

 

Steinfeld served as race director for 12 New York City Marathons and instituted a chute system that allowed the club to record places and times for hundreds of runners finishing in packs. Steinfeld and Lebow together developed a technique for accurate measurement of road races around the world through the Association of International Marathons.

 

Outside of NYRR, Steinfeld served as chief referee of both the men’s and women’s marathons at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, and as meet director of USATF Indoor Championships in 2002. He was one of the founders of Running USA and is an inductee of the National Distance Running and New York City Marathon Halls of Fame.