New York City Marathon 2026 : five boroughs km by km, race week and travel

New York is a course of two halves that run the wrong way round. The first 25 km cross three boroughs on wide avenues, with one 6.5 km straight on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, and they are where a runner settles. The difficulty comes late. Seventeen of the course’s 38 corners fall after km 30, the Bronx loop packs five of them into 2.7 km, and the highest ground of the whole race is on Fifth Avenue at km 38.4, at the top of a climb that starts at km 35.9. A pace that feels easy on First Avenue has to survive all of that.

The course runs from Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island to West Drive in Central Park, by Tavern on the Green. Kilometres and heights below are measured on a line walked from the City’s street-closure list, on the USGS 1 m elevation model. That model cannot see a bridge deck, so deck heights are measured separately.

Km 0 to 2.9: the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge

The race starts on the bridge itself, and the bridge takes the first 2.9 km. It is the biggest single climb of the day, and it comes first: the deck rises 26.7 m from the start to its crest at about km 0.95, then falls to the Brooklyn end.

Km 2.9 to 11.9: Bay Ridge and Fourth Avenue

Off the bridge the course runs through Bay Ridge by 92nd Street and joins Fourth Avenue, which it holds north for most of Brooklyn. From km 5.4 to km 11.9 it keeps one heading for 6.55 km. The road is not flat: it falls about 18 m between km 6.1 and km 8.1, rises about 7 m to km 9.5, and falls again to 6.8 m at km 10.7. None of it is steep.

Km 11.9 to 20.0: Lafayette Avenue, Williamsburg and Greenpoint

At the top of Fourth Avenue the course turns onto Flatbush Avenue and then onto Lafayette Avenue, passing the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower at about km 12.2. Lafayette is the climb of Brooklyn: the road rises 17 m between km 11.1 and km 13.0. Then the course turns north up Bedford Avenue through Williamsburg, onto Nassau Avenue and up Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, and loses almost all its height on the way: by km 20.0, at the foot of the Pulaski Bridge, it is at 3.2 m.

Km 20.0 to 25.6: Queens and the Queensboro

The Pulaski Bridge crosses Newtown Creek into Queens. Its deck climbs 9 m in under 300 m to a crest at km 20.5, and halfway, km 21.1, comes just past its far end. Queens is short: Vernon Boulevard and 44th Drive through Long Island City, then Crescent Street to Queens Plaza. There the course turns 177 degrees at km 23.2, out along Queens Plaza South and back along Queens Plaza North. It is the sharpest turn of the race, and one kilometre later the course is on the lower level of the Queensboro Bridge, km 24.1 to 25.6. The upper deck covers the lower one, there is nowhere for a spectator to stand, and it is the quietest kilometre of the day.

Km 25.6 to 31.1: First Avenue

The course comes off the bridge into Manhattan and turns north up First Avenue, the second long straight: one heading for 6.18 km, from km 25.8 to km 31.9. It runs gently downhill from about 17 m to 2.8 m at km 29, the lowest ground of the race, then stays flat to the Harlem River. This is the stretch to run with restraint.

Km 31.1 to 33.8: the new Bronx loop

The Willis Avenue Bridge, km 31.1 to 31.9, climbs 12 m in about 600 m, a 2% grade, into the Bronx. The loop was changed for 2026, the first course change in 15 years: left onto East 135th Street, right on Alexander Avenue, left onto East 141st Street, left on Third Avenue and right onto East 138th Street to the Madison Avenue Bridge, only 250 m long, km 33.5 to 33.8. The Bronx stint is short and expensive: five of the 38 corners are in these 2.7 km.

Km 33.8 to 38.4: Harlem and the Fifth Avenue climb

Back in Manhattan the course runs south down Fifth Avenue through Harlem, around Marcus Garvey Park by the Harlem Fire Watchtower at about km 35.4, and onto the climb most guides call the hardest of the race. From km 35.9 the ground rises 26.0 m in 2.5 km to km 38.4, an average of 1.05% with one stretch of about 400 m at 2.4%. The climb turns off Fifth Avenue into Central Park at East 90th Street, with the Guggenheim across the avenue, and tops out just inside the park at 32.8 m, the highest point of the course.

Km 38.4 to 42.2: Central Park to the finish

East Drive takes the course south through the park, losing about 15 m to 17.7 m near Grand Army Plaza at about km 40.9. The course leaves the park along Central Park South to Columbus Circle and turns back in for the last few hundred metres, and that last stretch climbs again, about 5.5 m from km 40.9 to the line on West Drive. The finish is uphill.

The expo and bib pickup

Bibs are handed out only at the expo, in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on 11th Avenue between West 35th and West 36th Streets. In 2026 it is open on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October from 10am to 8pm, with bib pickup closing at 7:30pm, and on Saturday 31 October from 9am to 5pm, with pickup closing at 4:30pm. Book a pickup time slot in the NYRR dashboard and bring photo ID and the runner confirmation NYRR sent you by email. You cannot collect another runner’s bib or send someone in your place, and wave changes cannot be made at the expo. The organiser names Thursday from 10am to noon and Friday from 10am to 2pm as the busiest times.

Bags

There is no bag check at the start, and nothing is carried from Staten Island to the finish. The only bag service is Pre-Check, on Central Park West between West 73rd and West 75th Streets on Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October from 9am to 5pm, in the official pre-check bag from the expo, and only for runners who chose it by 8 September. Bags can be collected after the race until 7pm. The only bag allowed into Fort Wadsworth is the clear start village bag given out at the expo. Wear old layers to the start: clothing bins in the start village are donated to All of Us. Every finisher gets a poncho in the post-finish area.

Getting to the start

Runners chose their transport in the NYRR dashboard by 8 September and must take the one they chose. New in 2026, NYRR assigns the departure time from your pace, and recommends the ferry to anyone expecting to finish in four hours or more. The free Staten Island Ferry leaves from Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan, and buses take runners from St. George to Fort Wadsworth, about 90 minutes in all. Buses from the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue at 40th Street take about 90 minutes, and buses from MetLife Stadium Parking Lot K in New Jersey about 60; arrive 15 minutes before your departure. A car, taxi or rideshare must reach the drop-off at McClean Avenue and Ocean Avenue before the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge closes to all traffic at 7am, and there is no parking at the start; the walk from the drop-off is about half a mile.

The start village, waves and pacers

Only entrants and guides are allowed into Fort Wadsworth. The start villages have more than 1,600 toilets, coffee, tea and bagels. There are five waves, three start colours (blue, orange and pink) and six corrals in each wave, and each wave’s corrals close 15 to 25 minutes before its start. You may move back to a later wave or corral, never forward, and your time is net, from the moment you cross the start line.

The NYRR Pace Team runs groups for finishes from 2:55 to 6:15, in blue-and-white-striped singlets with a flag giving the finish time. It is free, with no sign-up; find the pacers in the start corrals.

On the course and at the finish

Water is at every mile from mile 3 to mile 25 except miles 5, 7 and 9; refill stations are at miles 8, 14, 17, 20 and 23; Maurten gels at miles 12 and 18; bananas at mile 21. Medical stations and toilets are at about every mile from mile 3. Every course clock runs on Wave 1’s time, so a later wave reads its own watch. Everyone who finishes by 10pm Eastern time gets an official result and a medal; sweep buses follow at about 16 minutes per mile from the Wave 5 start.

After the line, runners leave the park at West 77th Street, with exits at West 74th, 75th and 76th Streets. The Family Reunion area is on West 69th to West 71st Streets, open from 11am to 6pm. Agree a meeting point beforehand: the organiser warns that phone networks may be too crowded to use.