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Broadway sensation Jordan Litz achieved a remarkable feat by completing the NYC Marathon in a time of 3 hours, 40 minutes, and 53 seconds, before returning to the bright lights of Broadway to perform in “Wicked” twice that same day.
NEW YORK — In a testament to his endurance and dedication, Jordan Litz, a star of the Broadway stage, finished the New York City Marathon and quickly transitioned to his role in the matinee performance of “Wicked” on Sunday.
Litz, known for his portrayal of Prince Fiyero since May 2023, joined thousands of runners traversing the five boroughs of New York City this year. His marathon journey concluded with an impressive pace, averaging 8 minutes and 26 seconds per mile, just in time to prepare for the 2 p.m. curtain call. The marathon commenced shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern Time.
In a conversation with the New York Times, Litz shared that his rigorous training regimen involved months of preparation, which included running distances of 18 to 19 miles prior to handling the demands of a double-show day as Prince Fiyero.
Litz told the New York Times he had been practicing for this run months in advance, sometimes running 18 or 19 miles before a double performance to play Prince Fiyero on stage.
“My body’s ready for it,” he told them Saturday. “At the end of the day, as long as I’ve refueled, I feel fine.”
He was hoping to finish the marathon with seven minutes per mile so he could have an hour to celebrate, refuel and prepare for his performance, which he says usually leaves him “wobbling through life” after a marathon.
“I’m crazy,” Litz told NBC News. “I’ve always been that kind of person, even when you asked my college teammates when I was a swimmer, I just loved to grind, and I loved to beat up my body and push it to the limits. So a marathon seemed like the logical next step for that kind of thing.”
He told the Times his main focus is refueling as much as possible and stretching since the stage they perform “Wicked” on is not flat.
“It’s at a two-degree incline, which destroys your body. The dance moves, in combination with being on a rake stage, is a recipe for all kinds of injuries,” he said.
Litz ultimately completed his marathon and took to the stage shortly after. He will also perform during the evening schedule, which starts at 7 p.m. ET.
Runners also included other big Broadway names like Anthony Ramos, who played Philip Hamilton and John Laurens in the Broadway musical “Hamilton” and Patina Miller, who played Deloris Van Cartier in the stage adaptation of the “Sister Act” and starred in the stage performance of “Pippin” as Pippin, and television hosts, actors and participants.
Miller ended her race with a time of 3:52:44, while Ramos finished it with a time of 4:44:31.
Longtime “The Amazing Race” host Phil Keoghan also finished the marathon with a time of 4:16:14.
The 26.2-mile course took runners through all five boroughs of New York, starting in Staten Island and ending in Manhattan’s Central Park. This is the 49th year the race has been in all five boroughs. Before that, the route was completely in Central Park.
The first race had only 55 finishers while a record 55,642 people finished last year, the largest in the history of the sport until the London Marathon broke it earlier this year, according to the Associated Press.
