76ers Partner with Philadelphia Marathon; Sixers Managing Owner Josh Harris Runs Second Consecutive Year

When Sixers Managing Owner Josh Harris is confronted with a challenge, he draws upon his experience as a collegiate wrestler and tackles it head on.

While Harris no longer wrestles, he still maintains an active lifestyle, competing in both triathlons and marathons throughout the Northeast area. On Sunday, November 18, he competed in the Philadelphia Half Marathon, an event the Sixers sponsored. Harris completed the race in 1:42:08,  a personal best. His time placed him 844th overall out of 21,586 runners and 49th  out of 1048 competing in his age group.

“The Philadelphia Marathon is a important athletic event,"  said Harris in an interview with Sixers.com "One of our organization’s core values is developing pure, grass-roots athletic achievement.”  We want to create an example in the community, and we feel that this event is a really nice vehicle through which to do that.”

Harris' background in high school and collegiate wrestling at the University of Pennsylvania helped him develop a tenacious drive and disciplined attitude outside the sport. Recently, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced that Harris would be the recipient of its Outstanding American Award. The honor is given to theose who have parlayed their experiences within the sport of wrestling into noteworthy careers in other fields. Former honorees include four former U.S. Presidents – George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft.

Harris applies his tenacious drive and discipline to his most recent undertaking as well – the Philadelphia 76ers.

"When I purchased the team, I said that my goal was to bring a championship team to the city of Philadelphia," he recently told John Mitchell of the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Obviously this isn't going to happen overnight."