{"id":86432,"date":"2026-01-01T11:25:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T11:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/86432\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T11:25:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T11:25:46","slug":"exclusive-these-new-yorkers-are-running-a-4-mile-race-at-midnight-on-new-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/86432\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | These New Yorkers are running a 4-mile race at midnight on New Year’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget the ball drop \u2014 these New Yorkers will be counting down the miles instead.<\/p>\n

At midnight, thousands will trade the party scene for pavement, sprinting into 2026 in the annual New York Road Runner\u2019s<\/a> Midnight Run<\/a> through Central Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to think that if I ring in the New Year in this healthy way, it\u2019s how I\u2019ll conduct my whole year,\u201d Lisa Hernandez, who has participated in the event every year since 2015, told The Post.<\/p>\n

The 4-mile run will begin on the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 2026. Ed Haas<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s face it: Most of us could use a little extra motivation. Getting more exercise tops Americans\u2019 2026 resolutions<\/a>, yet research shows most people abandon their goals by the second Friday in January, fittingly known as \u201cQuitter\u2019s Day<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the way you bring in the year can set the stage for the year to come,\u201d said Ted Metellus, NYRR\u2019s chief event production officer and race director. \u201cFor four miles you can think about the goals you accomplished or plan to accomplish as you run.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Midnight Run has been a New Year\u2019s Eve tradition since 1979, inspired by Sao Paulo\u2019s century-old Sao Silvestre Road Race.<\/p>\n

The inaugural event drew 1,600 runners. Fast forward to today, and that number has ballooned to nearly 5,000, with participants coming from every corner of the city and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike most New York Road\u00a0Runners races, the Midnight Run attracts athletes of all ages and abilities,\u201d Metellus said. \u201cThis year, our youngest participant is 8 years old, and our oldest registered participant is 91.\u201d <\/p>\n

Seasoned long-distance runner Kevin Hodge says that the race has a special appeal. He\u2019s conquered the New York City Marathon<\/a> five times, but for him, the Midnight Run is the real showstopper.<\/p>\n

Kevin Hodge has participated in the Midnight Run four times. <\/p>\n

Lisa Hernandez has been running in the Midnight Race since 2015. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I found out about it, I figured, why not run into the new year? It would keep me focused on my health, which is my wealth, and there are other people there who are like-minded,\u201d the Bronx resident told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a really fun experience and it\u2019s extremely rewarding,\u201d Hodge, 62, added. \u201cI try to do it every year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m divorced, and I\u2019ve got nobody to kiss on New Year\u2019s Eve \u2026 I don\u2019t need a date, I\u2019ve got a date with about 5,000 other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neil Weiss<\/p>\n

The festivities kick off with a pre-race party featuring a DJ, photo opportunities and vision board activities to map out the year ahead.<\/p>\n

At the stroke of midnight, runners take off near Rumsey Playfield, looping past Central Park landmarks like the Loeb Boathouse, Turtle Pond and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.<\/p>\n

A dazzling fireworks show lights up the sky as runners make their way through the 4-mile loop. Carla G. Torres for NYRR<\/p>\n

As they move through the 4-mile course, a dazzling fireworks show lights up the sky, drawing a crowd all on its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really heartfelt to watch the fireworks as they go off and we prepare for a brand new year, a new beginning,\u201d said Hodge, a counselor and an adjunct professor at the Mandl School. <\/p>\n

Another fan-favorite tradition includes a sparkling apple cider station halfway through the race for runners to enjoy.<\/p>\n

This year, organizers are also adding new twists, including a Glow Tunnel, where the fluorescent designs on participants\u2019 bibs will light up as they pass through a row of blacklights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis race is a great opportunity to start the New Year with a big, festive celebration, offering a healthy alternative on what is deemed a big party night,\u201d Metellus said. <\/p>\n

You do not have to be a member of the New York Road Runners to participate in the group\u2019s Midnight Run. Da Ping Luo for NYRR<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can come together with their community to experience the transformative power of running<\/a> and hopefully carry that positive energy and motivation into 2026 and beyond,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

That camaraderie is exactly why Neil Weiss continues to kick off his New Year with the Midnight Run \u2014 even though he isn\u2019t a runner himself. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still friends with three other people from the first New Year\u2019s Eve I volunteered at,\u201d said the Upper East Sider. \u201cWe regularly chat and meet up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The run is also a bit of a party with fun head gear and sparkling cider.<\/p>\n

Weiss, 62, has been a volunteer leader with NYRR for three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not seeing anybody right now. I\u2019m divorced, and I\u2019ve got nobody to kiss on New Year\u2019s Eve,\u201d he said. \u201cSo the way I see it is that I don\u2019t need a date, I\u2019ve got a date with about 5,000 other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He called the event his year-end celebration, an opportunity to \u201clet our hair down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a better party than, dare I say, Times Square,\u201d he said with a laugh. <\/p>\n

While this year\u2019s run is already sold out, Hernandez encouraged others to sign up in the future \u2014 no matter their skill level.<\/p>\n

\u201cWalk, run, however, you have to do it. Just do the whole thing and finish it,\u201d the Morningside Heights resident said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how your performance is, you\u2019ve done a great thing for New Year\u2019s Eve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hodge echoed the sentiment: \u201cA journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step \u2014 so just run.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forget the ball drop \u2014 these New Yorkers will be counting down the miles instead. At midnight, thousands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68,13530,2953,41823,10748,9,24,55,54,56,14509,168,1881],"class_list":["post-86432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-exclusive","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-new-years-resolutions","tag-new-years-eve","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-race","tag-running","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}