Arturo Montero's Lifelong Love for the New York City Marathon

When Arturo Montero finished the first New York City Marathon, in 1970, he didn’t know he was starting a tradition that would last more than 50 years.

As a child growing up in Chile, Arturo loved running—so much so that he got the nickname “Calela” a mispronunciation of the Spanish word for “runner.”

“I ran everywhere, all the time, from age 3 onward,” said Arturo. “Everyone knew me as the runner.”

When he came to the United States as a young man in 1960, Arturo continued his pastime, logging miles near his home in Connecticut. He ran solo, fitting in his training whenever he could around his job as a mechanic at Clairol.

In 1970 Arturo ran his first marathon—four-plus laps around Central Park at the inaugural New York City Marathon. Arturo finished in 42nd place in a time of 4:05:57.

Despite the challenges of that race—heat, hills, a tiny field of just 55 finishers, almost no spectators, and not enough water—Arturo loved the experience. He returned to run the New York City Marathon in 1971 and improved his finish time to 3:14:47. He found other marathons and distance races around New England and raced as often as he could.

He was especially dedicated to the New York City Marathon, running it a total of 31 times. In 2013 his son, Gino, ran with him, fulfilling a lifetime dream for Arturo (pictured above). In 2016, at age 80, he ran the TCS New York City Marathon for the final time, finishing in 6:28:04.

His favorite parts of the course are the first two miles on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and the finish. “I feel very happy at the start, with so many people,” he said. “I think about all the times I have run there over the years.”

Arturo has run more than 100 marathons, all over the world, including a 2:59 in Toronto as a masters (age 40+) runner. He's saved mementos—medals, trophies, and even a newspaper article written when he took a trip to Russia to run the Moscow Marathon and was robbed on a train.

“When I was a young man I’d run many marathons every year, as many as I could,” he said.

Arturo is now 85 years old. He retired from his job with Clairol in the 80s after 45 years. He lives in Stamford, CT with his wife, Cecilia, and still walks for exercise every day. This year he will return to NYC on race weekend to celebrate a lifetime of running achievement and fulfillment and to reunite with other finishers of the first New York City Marathon.

“I love the New York City Marathon,” he said. “It’s beautiful. The people are happy. You are never alone.”