Muhrcke, who is now 80 years old was the first winner of the NYC Marathon. At the time, the marathon took place running several loops around Central Park only. Muhrcke was a NYC firefighter at the time and running was not as popular as it is today. In 1970, 55 people finished the race. In 2019 over 53,000 finished the race.
Read original story and a great news clip from 1976 here.