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The official TCS New York City Marathon Map. Runners are to begin at the Island-Side of the Verrazano Bridge and cross the finish line at the Central Park terminus. (Image courtesy of the TCS NYC Marathon website)
The official TCS New York City Marathon Map. Runners are to begin at the Island-Side of the Verrazano Bridge and cross the finish line at the Central Park terminus. (Image courtesy of the TCS NYC Marathon website)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The 26.2-mile New York City Marathon, scheduled for Nov. 2 this year, takes runners through all five boroughs. Established in 1970, the marathon is the largest in the world, with more than 50,000 finishers in 2013.
Check below for route details and race information.
ROUTE DETAILS
The marathon begins on Staten Island, at the Fort Wadsworth-side of the Verrazano Bridge, which will be closed to vehicular traffic throughout the event. Runners span the Narrows, touching down in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, with two miles behind them.
Runners then continue north in Brooklyn on Fourth Avenue, through Sunset Park (Mile 5) and Park Slope (Mile 7), before reaching the intersection of Lafayette Avenue and Flatbush Avenue (Mile 8). The route then leads through Williamsburg and Greenpoint to the Queensboro Bridge at Mile 15.
After traversing the Queensboro, runners head uptown along the East Side on First Avenue. The route peaks at 138 Street in the Bronx at Mile 21, before dipping back down Fifth Avenue and to the finish line, at Central Park West Drive and 67th Street.
According to the marathon's website, there will be clocks marked with color-coded signs corresponding to runners start color, up to Mile 8. From Mile 8 onward, all mile markers will be blue. Yellow kilometer signs will be posted every 5 kilometers. All course clocks will be set to correspond to Wave 1.
There will be video checkpoints and volunteers checking race numbers along the run. Failure to appear at video checkpoints may result in disqualification, according to race rules.
Timing mats will be placed at the Start, every mile after Mile 8, and the Finish.
ELEVATION PROFILE
Runners are faced with their steepest and longest incline immediately, as they jog up the Verrazano Bridge. The ascents of Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn and the Queensboro Bridge are also quite formidable. The Fifth Avenue incline, by Mile 23, could also prove as a late-race challenge.
MEDICAL NEEDS AND AMENITIES
NYC Marathon elevation. (Image courtesy of the TCS NYC Marathon website)
"Medical aid stations will be located on the course approximately every mile starting at Mile 3 [adjacent to each fluid station] and at the finish. Medical volunteers will be wearing red medical T-shirts. Medical volunteers and supplies will be available at all aid stations," reads the marathon website.
"If you incur an injury or feel discomfort, stop at the nearest aid station. Most runners who seek medical attention are able to complete the race safely. The NYRR medical team will be equipped with Philips Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in ambulances along the course and at post-finish medical tents to provide trained medical professionals with the tools they need in a life-threatening emergency."
Water and other hydration formulas will be available at every mile, beginning at Mile 3. Fruit will be available at Miles 20 to 23.
Importantly, portable toilets (which are also wheelchair accessible) will be located at every mile, starting at Mile 3. If a runner needs to drop out, he or she can locate a volunteer radio operator, who each wear an orange hat.
For more race information, visit the official marathon website. Motorists can call the Verrazano-Narrows Marathon Traffic Hotline at 718-556-8010 for information about closures and reopenings.
Those who need help finding an alternate route should call 511 or visit the website at 511NY.org. For other marathon-related roadway closures throughout the city, call the NYC hotline at 311.