After an epic NYC summer filled with the Knicks and FIFA, Great Performances is heading into another heart-pumping New York event. But this time we won’t be there to work it. We’ll be there to run it!
This November, four of our own are taking on the TCS New York City Marathon, running 26.2 miles through all five boroughs. We caught up with our runners to hear about the causes they’re running for, the music they’re running to and the question a food company really wants answered: What are you eating after you cross that finish line?
Meet our runners below, cheer them on and, if you can, show your support for the causes they’re running for!
Four Runners, 26.2 Miles, One New York City
There’s some serious marathon experience in this group. Between them, our four runners have already completed 21 marathons. For Senior Event Director Morgan Golumbuk, this will be her first. For Venue Director Pia Tedesco, it will be number 12.
Their reasons for running are just as varied.
For Shacazia Brown, HR Director, this year is about going for a “4-peat” and returning to the streets of the city where she was born and raised. Design Director Jason Huber tries to run a marathon every fall, but the 50th anniversary of the NYC Marathon’s five-borough course made New York the clear choice this year.
For Morgan, the road to her first marathon began with an injury. After being sidelined with an ankle injury, an impromptu Christmas Day run in 2025 changed something.
“It brought me so much confidence and joy that I knew I had to run in 2026,” she says.
And for Pia, who ran her first marathon in 2017, New York has simply become an annual tradition.
Running for Something Bigger
For several of our runners, those 26.2 miles are also an opportunity to support organizations and communities they care about.
Shacazia is running for Harlem United, which provides healthcare, housing and supportive services to underserved communities throughout New York City.
Morgan is running for an organization already very close to the Great Performances family: The Sylvia Center. Having worked at GP for almost nine years, she has seen firsthand how The Sylvia Center uses culinary programming to help young people and families build skills that support their health and well-being.
“I spend a significant amount of my time thinking about food and the way that it makes me and others feel, both in my work and personal lives, and I love that The Sylvia Center centers that mission and brings awareness and education to young people and families in the region.”
Jason is raising funds for The Center, New York City’s LGBTQ+ community center, which provides advocacy, health and wellness programs, arts and cultural programming and other community services.
And Pia? She’s running for “all the born and raised New Yorkers.”
26.2 Miles Through Our City
Part of what makes the New York City Marathon special is right there in its name. This isn’t just a race through New York. For our runners, the city is part of the experience.
Shacazia is most excited for the Bronx.
“This is where I was born and raised,” she says. Along the way, she’ll also be watching for the funny signs, dogs giving high fives and people cheering her name.
For Morgan, it has to be Brooklyn. She spent years cheering for marathon runners there before she ever moved to the borough herself.
“I have been a spectator of the NYC Marathon for many years, and I am so excited to be on the receiving end of all of the positivity and joy,” she says. “It is infectious and reflective of all of the best qualities of New York and New Yorkers.”
Jason is also partial to the moment runners first arrive in Brooklyn.
“The roar of people that hits you as you exit the Verrazano Bridge and into Brooklyn is pretty special,” he says. “It’s the first spectators you meet, and it’ll make you start running too fast if you’re not careful!”
But he gives the Bronx its due, too, especially for the block-party atmosphere and what he calls “some of the most encouraging cheerers on the whole course.”
Pia’s route has another layer to it: she passes some familiar GP landmarks along the way.
At mile nine, she runs along Lafayette Avenue past BAM, where she knows she’ll see familiar faces cheering. When she reaches the Bronx, she’ll be close to Great Performances and know she has about six miles left. Then comes the roar of Harlem before the final push through Manhattan.
And as she reaches miles 25 and 26?
She’ll see the windows of the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center and know the finish is almost there.
Meet the Runners
Shacazia Brown
HR Director | Marathon #4
Shacazia has been training for a year for her fourth marathon, and she has a pretty simple philosophy for getting through the days when training feels especially hard:
“On the tough days, I remind myself that I’m stronger than the excuses in my head. Every mile, every early morning/late night, and every moment I want to quit is building the person who will cross the finish line.”
Her advice for anyone considering their own first marathon is equally straightforward: Just start.
“Don’t worry about how fast you are or how far you can run today. Know your why, because your why will carry you through the tough days.”
On the playlist: DMX, “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”
Finish-line feast: Seafood boil and lemon cake
Morgan Golumbuk
Senior Event Director | First Marathon
Morgan has been training since March with Brooklyn Heights Run Club, with a special shoutout to her “day one teammates and ultimate pace pushers,” Spencer and Joe.
Training has also become a way to see the world differently. Since getting back into running, Morgan has logged miles in New York, Berlin, Montreal, Cape Cod and Las Vegas, including a run to Coney Island Beach on a hot Friday morning “just because I felt like it.”
Her running playlist, appropriately titled GO MO GO!, has been growing for about a decade.
And what gets her out there when training gets tough?
“Fear of failure…lol.”
On the playlist: AC/DC, “Thunderstruck,” and Fred Again, “Victory Lap”
Finish-line feast: A chicken parm hero from Parm. Maybe lasagna from LaRina. In Morgan’s words: “Just give me all of the red sauce!!!”
Pia Tedesco
Venue Director | Marathon #12
Pia started running marathons in 2017. Eleven marathons later, New York has become an annual tradition.
She is committed to the full 16-week marathon training program, but after this many races, she also knows one of the cardinal rules of marathon day: Never try anything new.
Her favorite part of race day isn’t complicated, either. She’s looking forward to seeing friends, family and coworkers along the course, passing those familiar GP landmarks and, most importantly, crossing the finish line.
And for anyone wondering whether New York should be their first marathon?
“If you’re thinking about running a marathon, there is no better city than 26.2 miles of NYC.”
Finish-line feast: Once her appetite comes back, chicken parm.
Jason Huber
Design Director | Marathon #8, NYC #5
Jason never really stops running. He completed the Brooklyn Half in May and built his 20-week marathon training program from there.
His approach to tough training days is appropriately no-nonsense:
“The marathon happens, whether you’re ready or not. So get ready.”
This year will be his fifth time running the NYC Marathon, and while he’s looking forward to the finish line, he knows there’s another reward waiting shortly afterward.
“The shower after the day is one of the best showers you’ll ever have.”
His advice for future marathoners? Don’t skip the long runs, but don’t forget why you’re out there either.
“Have fun, don’t take it too seriously. You’re probably not coming in first place, so enjoy the journey!”
On the playlist: Kylie Minogue, “Get Outta My Way,” and Robyn/Röyksopp, “Do It Again”
Finish-line feast: Waffle fries. “But honestly, I’ll eat anything and everything I want after a race!”
Cheer Them On
On Marathon Sunday, Shacazia, Morgan, Pia and Jason will join tens of thousands of runners making their way from Staten Island to Central Park, with a whole lot of Great Performances friends, family and colleagues cheering them on along the way.
We’ll be rooting for all four of them through every borough, every bridge and every one of those 26.2 miles.
And we’ll have the chicken parm ready.
