Alan Ruben has run the last 32 NYC Marathons in a row

(Dec. 2019) Alan Ruben grew up in London, but has a long tenure in NYC running. He has finished 32 NYC Marathons in a row, and is a former president of the Central Park Track Club. As a youth, he played soccer for an hour every noon. He recalls that he wasn't very skilled, "but attempted to make up for that by running around more than anyone else." 

Ruben ran his first NYC Marathon in 1987, and met his future wife, Gordon Bakoulis (5 time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials), in 1994. They were married two years later. When the two aren't racking up wins in Central Park, they're watching their childrens' soccer games. (So the kids, if they follow their dad's evolution, will be all right.)

Career? I work in computer programming for a money transfer software company.

When and why did you start running? I started running in the fall of 1982 inspired by the London Marathon. I knew one person who had run the London Marathon and