A very special guest is leading next month’s New York City marathon festivities.
Page Six reports that legendary director and native New Yorker Spike Lee has been named the grand marshal for this year’s run.
“When I was in college at Morehouse in Atlanta, this was really my New York fix, watching the marathon,” he said to Page Six. “Because I will go to my grave—hopefully no time soon—saying that New York City is the greatest city on God’s planet. And I think the marathon is a big demonstration of that: People coming from all over the world to do their best. There’s no better city in the world to do that than New York City.”
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Surprisingly, Lee is only the third—yes, third—person in the race’s history to hold the honor of grand marshal. Marathon runner Emil Zatopek was the first in 1979, and the late runner Grete Waitz was the last one in 2003.
We know that Spike is sure to deliver an energetic speech that will get the runners psyched and ready to run.