Allan Steinfeld (June 7, 1946 — January 24, 2017) was the president of the

New York Road Runners New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...

and race director of the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

from 1994 to 2005. During his executive career, Steinfeld was also the technical director of the New York City Marathon and the NYRR's chief executive officer during the 1980s. In 2009, Steinfeld received the

Abebe Bikila Award The Abebe Bikila Award is an annual prize given by the New York Road Runners club (NYRR) to honour individuals who have made a significant contribution to the sport of long-distance running. The first recipient of the award was Ted Corbitt, a foun ...

from the NYRR. Outside of the NYRR, Steinfeld was a co-establisher of the

Association of International Marathons and Distance Races The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of the organisers of long-distance road running races. It was founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of marathon race directors. Its membership w ...

in 1982. In individual events, Steinfeld directed races held as part of the

IAAF Grand Prix The IAAF Grand Prix was an annual, global circuit of one-day outdoor track and field competitions organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). It was created in 1985 as the IAAF's first seasonal track and field circu ...

between 1989 and 1995. Outside of New York, Steinfeld led the

1984 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1984 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, at the Meadowlands Racetrack on March 25, 1984. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Complete results for men, junior m ...

1998 Goodwill Games The 1998 Goodwill Games was the fourth edition of the international sports competition the Goodwill Games, which were created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. The competition was held i ...

and the 2002

USA Track & Field Indoor Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships in ...

. Apart from his directorship career, Steinfeld did not complete the 1966

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

and was a referee for the marathons at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. He was inducted into the

RRCA Distance Running Hall of Fame Founded in 1958, the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) is the oldest and largest distance running organization in the United States with over 1,500 running club and event members representing 200,000 individual runners active in their running c ...

in 2013 and the New York Road Runners Hall of Fame in 2014.

Early life and education

On June 7, 1946, Steinfeld was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. His mother was a dressmaker while his father was a trader. During his childhood, Steinfeld lived in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

and completed his education in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. For his post-secondary education, Steinfeld began running at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

before he moved to

The City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, City ...

. At City College, Steinfeld competed in running categories ranging from the 220 yards to 1 mile and graduated in 1969 with an

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

bachelor's degree. In 1971, Steinfeld received a master's degree at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

with a dual major of

radio astronomy Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming f ...

and electrical engineering. Upon completing his degree at Cornell, Steinfeld started a

doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

at the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

. While in Alaska for a year, Steinfeld conducted research on the Northern Lights for his dissertation and took up

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

. After he withdrew from his studies in Alaska, Steinfeld went to Richmond College in 1972 to become a certified teacher.

Career

As an athlete, Steinfeld did not finish the 1966

and was in the top 900 at the 1979

Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii, first held in 1973. It is one of the world's largest marathons, taking place annually on the second Sunday i ...

. Apart from running, Steinfeld held multiple volunteer positions for the

from 1963 to 1978. During this time period, Steinfeld became an assistant athletic coach and academic teacher in 1973 for a Rye Neck,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

high school. Steinfeld continued to teach in Rye Neck until he became

Fred Lebow Fred Lebow (June 3, 1932 – October 9, 1994), born Fischel Lebowitz, was a runner, race director, and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Arad, Romania, he presided over the transformation of the race from one with 55 finishers in 1970 ...

's assistant at the NYRR in 1978. During the 1980s, Steinfeld was the chief executive officer of the NYRR while also becoming the technical director of the

in 1983. After Lebow died in 1994, Steinfeld became the NYRR's president and the New York City Marathon race director that year. In 2005, Steinfeld stepped down from his executive roles to become the New York City Marathon's executive director and the NYRR's vice-chairperson. Outside of the NYRR, Steinfeld co-established the

in 1982 and was the organization's inaugural technical chairperson. In individual events, Steinfeld was the director of events held in New York City as part of the

between 1989 and 1995. During this time period, Steindfeld was in charge of races held during the New York Games from 1989 to 1994. Outside of New York, Steinfeld was a referee at the marathons held during the

and was in charge of the

. Other racing events Steinfeld directed were the

and the 2002

Awards and honors

In 2009, Steinfeld received the

from the NYRR. For hall of fames, Steinfeld was inducted into the

in 2013 and the New York Road Runners Hall of Fame in 2014.

Personal life and death

After experiencing an injury to his retina while in Alaska during the early 1970s, Steinfeld later became blind in his left eye. On January 24, 2017, Steinfeld died in

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...

from

multiple system atrophy Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by autonomic dysfunction, tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, and postural instability (collectively known as parkinsonism) and ataxia. This is caused by progr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinfeld, Allan 1946 births 2017 deaths American male marathon runners American sports executives and administrators Schoolteachers from New York (state)