Community
Three generations of the Granoff family will run the New York City Marathon together on Sunday
By Jewish Life Staff, . Jewish Life.
Three generations of the Granoff family will take the start line together at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, Jewish Insider reported. Marty Granoff, 90, his son Michael, 57, and his grandson Avi, 22, will run side by side through all five New York City boroughs, covering a combined 78.6 miles.
Who is running and why
Marty is one of just two runners in their nineties entered in this year's race, according to Jewish Insider. He completed five marathons in the 1970s and 1980s, then stepped away from the sport. Earlier this year, six months after turning 90, he told Michael he wanted to return.
Michael, an American-Israeli tech entrepreneur and founder and managing partner of Maniv Mobility, an investment firm focused on transportation technology, had not run a marathon in more than a decade and had relocated to Israel in 2013. He said yes immediately. "I'm in," he recalled telling his father.
Avi recently completed his service in the Israeli Air Force and has only recently taken up running. He and Michael have had little time to train together, making Sunday the first occasion all three will run as a group. "The start of the race will be the first time we're all together in this capacity," Michael told Jewish Insider.
How Marty trained at 90
Marty's preparation centered on walking at least seven miles a day, seven days a week, with a coach, while his longest single training run reached 23 miles, Jewish Insider reported. Finishing would put him in rare company: the outlet noted there has been only one runner aged 90 or older to finish the New York City Marathon since 2014, Koichi Kitabatake, 91, from Japan, who crossed the line in 2025 in about seven hours and 25 minutes.
Marty told Jewish Insider he has never doubted himself. "Everybody tells me I'm crazy. But I have never doubted I could do it," he said. "I've had my share of business and philanthropic success, but none of it compares to running five marathons. A few months ago, a sixth would have been folly. Then my walks got longer, and I began to wonder. Doing it alongside my son and grandson makes it epic."
A tradition rooted in loss
Running entered the Granoff family after Marty took up the sport following his own father's death from heart disease, Jewish Insider reported. Michael went on to run 18 New York City Marathons during the 1990s and 2000s and set a personal goal of covering 10,000 miles in that decade. The tradition has since extended to the next generation: Michael's daughter has completed a marathon in Tel Aviv, and Avi will join the family in New York on Sunday.
Michael told Jewish Insider he adjusted his own training once the race became real, adding long walks from his Tel Aviv office to his home in Ra'anana by first riding the light rail farther south before continuing on foot.
What Michael is looking forward to
Michael said the moment he remembers most vividly from past races is the shift from the quiet of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge to the noise of First Avenue. "The quietest mile or two is when you get on to that bridge," he told Jewish Insider. "When you get off, you get into the noisiest section, coming onto First Avenue where it's wall-to-wall people."
More than 2 million spectators are expected along the course, Jewish Insider reported. Michael also drew a parallel between marathon running and his investment work, telling the outlet: "Marathon running is really a great metaphor for the long run and taking the long view of things and making long-term investments." Maniv Mobility held its annual investor gathering in Paris this week, the third consecutive year the firm has met outside Israel since the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Source: https://jewishinsider.com/2026/10/marty-granoff-son-grandson-new-york-city-marathon-nonagenarian/