NYC MARATHON | What to know about the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon ahead of race day

Athletics – 2024 TCS New York City Marathon – New York, United States – November 3, 2024
General view as runners cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge during the marathon

REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid

More than 50,000 runners will put their best feet forward this Sunday for the journey of their lives at the TCS New York City Marathon.

Here’s everything you need to know about the great race:

The route

The marathon starts in phases between 7 and 10 a.m. on Nov. 2 from the Staten Island base of the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge. Groups are staggered for their starts to avoid overcrowding. The field includes professional men’s and women’s runners along with wheelchair and handcycle athletes, and amateur runners seeking personal glory or dedicated to a personal cause.

After crossing the Verrazzano Bridge, the marathoners will then wind their way north through Brooklyn for 11 miles before reaching the halfway point of the race on the Pulaski Bridge over the Newtown Creek along the Brooklyn/Queens border.

The runners then head through Long Island City, Queens and across the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. They’ll race north on 1st Avenue into the South Bronx before turning back into Manhattan and heading down 5th Avenue. 

Their 26.2-mile journey ends in Central Park just steps away from the iconic Tavern on the Green restaurant.

Along the way, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers will line the marathon route cheering, waving signs, handing out water and encouraging everyone to keep going through the end.

Who’s running?

Some 55,642 runners from 137 countries completed the 2024 version of this competition, and the New York Road Runners says it expects a similarly vast, diverse field this year.

 Last year’s average time of completion was four hours, 31 minutes — a 20 minute increase in speed from the average time of the 2023 race.

The Kenyan, Sheila Chepkirui led the women last year. At 33 years old, Chepkirui was moving at blazing speed, finishing the race in two hours, 24 minutes, and 30 seconds.

Last year Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands took the men’s grand prize of $100,000. The 35 year old averaged a four minute 53 second mile pace for the 26.2 mile race.

See the whole course map here.

Road closures, transit changes

Marathon Sunday in New York is not the best way to get around by car due to closures of major roadways and bridges. Drivers are advised to follow detours or simply to keep their cars at home. 

MTA.info has an updated list of public transit changes for the day of the event.

Great spots to catch the action

People travel from all over the world to see Central Park in the fall. Be one of those people when the race is happening. You will see the runners busting a lung to try to make it to the finish line deep in the park. 

The Queensboro Bridge is a nice view to catch the runners near their halfway point, and 

The Charity Cheer Zone on 1st Ave. and 120th St. will be buzzing too.

Watching the race is free of cost as long as you find a way to be alongside the runner’s path from miles 3-26. Some other recommended spots to take it all in can be seen below:

Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn (Miles 2-4) Subway: R
Fourth Avenue and Flatbush Avenue (Mile 8)  Subway: B, D, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4, 5
Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn (Miles 10-13) Subway: G, L, M, J
Pulaski Bridge (Halfway point – Mile 13.1) Subway: 7, G, E
First Avenue, Manhattan (Miles 16-18) Subway: N, Q, R, 4, 5, 6, F
East Harlem (Miles 18-20) Subway: 6
Fifth Avenue, East 90th Street-East 105th Street (Miles 23-24) Subway: Q, 4, 5, 6
United Airlines Zone: Columbus Circle. Subway: A, C, D, 1

If your preference is sitting, consider buying a ticket to view from a grandstand on 62nd Street and Broadway. If you can’t make it live, the race is televised. WABC-TV, Channel 7 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET. Pre-race coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET, and continued coverage of the race will be live until 1 p.m. ET. Live streaming will also be available on the ABC 7 New York App and ABC7NY.com from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. ABC7NY.com will also present a view of the finish line from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

For more information about the TCS New York City Marathon, visit nyrr.org/tcsnycmarathon.

Note: Daylight Savings Time ends early on Sunday morning; set your manual clocks back 1 hour. All times listed in this article are in Eastern standard time.