“When George Hirsch ran the New York City Marathon in 1976, the first year the course snaked through all five boroughs, the event was a lean affair. He and two thousand others dodged wayward bicycles and pedestrians on the streets, with little help from an anemic police presence.”

American journalist and filmmaker

Mary Pilon is an American journalist and filmmaker who covers sports and business. She has written for major outlets including The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Her books include The Monopolists, The Kevin Show, Losers: Dispatches From the Other Side of the Scoreboard, and The Longest Race, which she co-authored with Olympian Kara Goucher. Her reporting and writing often reflect the worlds of competition, money, and the people shaped by both.