Fort Wadsworth: One Volunteer's Half-Century at the Start Line

Joanne Navarra stands 85 feet in the air on race morning.

Perched in the bucket of a Fire Department truck, she oversees the start village at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. This is her 50th year managing the operation. The New York City Marathon begins on Nov. 1, marking the 50th anniversary of the race's move from Central Park to its current route across the five boroughs.

Navarra began volunteering in 1976, the year of the U.S. Bicentennial. Only 2,090 runners participated that year, paying a $5 entry fee. Her husband, Victor, a New York City Fire Department lieutenant, wanted to run but she initially thought he was out of his mind. She decided to help instead. Within three years, race co-founder Fred Lebow asked the couple to run the entire start. They agreed.

The event has grown since that first small gathering. The Navarras helped New York Road Runners transform the logistics into a coordinated operation. Their duties included recruiting volunteers, organizing corrals, and directing runners toward the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Navarra has also run the marathon herself a few times, volunteering in the early morning before racing from the back of the line.

Victor died in 2007 from paranasal sinus cancer linked to his volunteer work at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He had months to live and made a list of final goals, including attending the marathon. He attended that race blind and barely able to talk. He told Navarra to put him on ice if he died before that date. He made it to the line.

In the days leading up to Nov. 1, Navarra oversees the construction of the start village. She hosts meetings with volunteers to review logistics and distributes trash and donation bags for the corrals. On race day, she manages approximately 2,000 volunteers. She admits to a fear of heights, noting she dislikes even step ladders, but continues to direct operations from the truck bucket. She believes Victor would be proud that she kept the relationships going.

The start line offers a different energy than the finish, according to Navarra. She sees the full spectrum of the human experience at the beginning of the race. Runners gather together, creating an adrenaline rush that she finds more exciting than the end. She notes that she rarely sees a sad face in the crowd.