Running celebrities: No special treatment

Once inside the velvet ropes in the New York City Marathon, there is no special treatment for celebrities. They still have to run the same 26 miles and 385 yards that challenge a few dozen professional racers and about 45,000 members of the hoi polloi.

So while boldface names generally are welcomed by marathon officials with open arms -- and will be again Sunday in the 42nd edition of the event -- there are caveats.

"We always make sure they have a trainer, always offer our services," marathon director Mary Wittenberg said. "We want people to be as ready as possible, including the celebrities. Many don't understand what it's all about until they're in the middle of it.

"So we push people to make sure they can run. One person stands out, where we spent a lot of time asking, 'Can she really run?' " She was told, "No. You can't only run halfway."

But that was a rare case, Wittenberg said, and this year's VIPs go beyond the growing collection of athletes arriving from other sports -- hockey luminary Mark Messier, Olympic speedskating champion Apolo Ohno and softball ace Jenny Finch -- to actor and TV host Mario Lopez.

"We turn away some 80,000 people [seeking entry]," Wittenberg said, "so we do not give up slots lightly. The only way [a celebrity] can get a slot like that is if we believe their running will help fulfill the purpose of the New York Road Runners. If your running is going to help highlight the advantages of running, then you're in."

Within the running community, there was some unease that cycling champion Lance Armstrong's 2006 marathon debut stole the media spotlight from the race's elite runners. Armstrong, though he turned in an admirable time of just under three hours, finished 50 minutes behind the winner.

But Wittenberg argued that the presence of the likes of Lopez "is phenomenal for us, because it brings a whole 'nother audience. It's like P. Diddy did [in 2008]."

In most cases, the celebrities approach race organizers requesting entry, although -- in the case of Armstrong -- the marathon issued an invitation. Occasionally, a well-known figure will slip quietly into the field, as former tennis champion Yannick Noah did several years ago. And actress Katie Holmes, before she ran in 2008, asked that officials not announce her presence.

"That's a tricky thing for us," Wittenberg said. "We don't like to do that so much, but we will for somebody's privacy. Or for safety. If they ask us, we usually say, 'How about we keep you under a separate name until the day of the race?' "

Either way, once they're in, they're on their own.