TCS New York City Marathon 2026

Sunday, 1 November 2026 · New York, United States

The weekend at a glance

Your number

Javits Center, Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October, in a time slot you booked

Start

Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island. Waves at 9:10, 9:45, 10:20, 10:55 and 11:30

Getting to it

The ferry from Whitehall Terminal, a bus from the New York Public Library, or a bus from MetLife Stadium

Finish

Central Park. Runners leave the park at West 77th Street

Bags

No bag goes from the start to the finish. Pre-check one on Friday or Saturday, or take the poncho

Climb

The organiser publishes no figure. Five bridges carry the course between boroughs

Time limit

16 minutes a mile from the last wave on the streets. Results count until 22:00

Weather

The last five race mornings ran from 5.3 °C to 19.9 °C at 9:00

On this page

1. Getting to New York
2. Where to stay in New York
3. Collecting your number
4. Race morning
5. Bag pre-check or the poncho
6. The course
7. Weather in New York in November
8. Afterwards
9. Other race weekends
10. Sources

Getting to New York

Three airports serve the city. From JFK, the AirTrain runs to Jamaica and Howard Beach, where it meets the subway, and Jamaica also has the Long Island Rail Road. The Port Authority puts the AirTrain fare at $8.75. From Newark, the AirTrain takes you to the airport rail station, and NJ Transit trains reach New York Penn Station in about 30 minutes. LaGuardia has no train, but the free Q70 bus runs from Terminals B and C to the subway at Jackson Heights to Roosevelt Avenue and 74 Street to Broadway.

Amtrak trains from the rest of the United States arrive at Penn Station too, and the organiser lists 34th Street to Penn Station as one of the stations near the expo.

Where to stay in New York

Pick a base by how you're getting to the start. The ferry leaves from Whitehall Terminal at the southern tip of Manhattan, so Lower Manhattan suits a ferry rider. The Midtown bus leaves from the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue at 40th Street. Runners on the New Jersey bus board at MetLife Stadium, Lot K.

The finish is at the other end of the day. You leave Central Park at West 77th Street on the Upper West Side, and a pre-checked bag waits on Central Park West between West 73rd and 75th Streets. Walking times from any area aren't published.

Collecting your number

The expo is at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, on 11th Avenue between West 35th and 36th Streets. It's open from 10:00 to 20:00 on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October, with bib pickup closing at 19:30, and from 9:00 to 17:00 on Saturday 31 October, with bib pickup closing at 16:30. The nearest station is 34th Street to Hudson Yards on the 7 train.

You choose a pickup slot in your dashboard until 16:00 on 31 October. Bring photo ID and your runner confirmation form. You must collect in person, because nobody can pick up for you. The organiser says Thursday from 10:00 to 12:00 and Friday from 10:00 to 14:00 are the busiest times.

Race morning

You travel the way you chose by 8 September, at the time you were given. Taking another option can get you a warning or a penalty, and if you never chose one, you're assigned whatever is left at the expo.

The Staten Island Ferry is free and leaves from Whitehall Terminal, reached by the 1 train to South Ferry or the R and W to Whitehall Street to South Ferry. It crosses to St. George, where free buses take you to Fort Wadsworth. The organiser allows 90 minutes for the whole trip, the same as the Midtown bus. The New Jersey bus takes 60 minutes. Arrive 15 minutes before either bus leaves.

A car or taxi can drop you at McClean Avenue and Ocean Avenue, about half a mile, 800 m, from the start villages. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge closes to all traffic at 7:00, so a car has to be through before then. There is no parking.

Your bib shows your wave, your colour and your corral. There are five waves, three colours (blue, orange and pink) and six corrals in each wave. The colour is your start village. Corrals open and close at these times in 2026.

You can move to a later wave or corral, never an earlier one. The villages have more than 1,600 toilets, with coffee, tea and bagels while they last. The only bag allowed into Fort Wadsworth is the clear start village bag from the expo, so wear old layers and drop them in the clothing bins, which go to the charity All of Us.

Bag pre-check or the poncho

No bag travels from the start to the finish. If you want your own clothes at the end, you pre-check a bag on Central Park West between West 73rd and 75th Streets on Friday 30 or Saturday 31 October, from 9:00 to 17:00. Only the official pre-check bag from the expo is accepted, and the choice had to be made in your dashboard by 8 September.

Every finisher gets a poncho in the post-finish area, whatever they chose. Pre-checked bags wait on Central Park West until about 19:00. After that they move to the NYRR RUNCENTER at 320 West 57th Street for collection on Monday 2 November.

The course

The course is 42.2 km, or 26.2 miles, and the organiser publishes no climb figure. The five bridges carry the course between boroughs. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge takes you from Staten Island into Brooklyn, and the course map draws a separate line for each start colour. The Pulaski Bridge reaches Queens at halfway, mile 13.1. The Queensboro Bridge brings you into Manhattan for First Avenue, miles 16 to 18. The Willis Avenue Bridge takes you into the Bronx, and the Madison Avenue Bridge brings you back. You enter Central Park after Fifth Avenue at miles 23 and 24.

In 2026 the Bronx section changes. After the Willis Avenue Bridge you turn onto East 135th Street and Alexander Avenue, then East 141st Street, Third Avenue and East 138th Street to the Madison Avenue Bridge.

Water and Gatorade are at every mile from mile 3 (4.8 km) to mile 25 (40.2 km), except miles 5, 7 and 9. Maurten gels are at miles 12 (19.3 km) and 18 (29.0 km), and bananas at mile 21 (33.8 km). Refill stations for your own bottle are at miles 8, 14, 17, 20 and 23. Toilets are at every mile from mile 3.

The streets stay open to anyone holding 16 minutes a mile, about 9:57 a kilometre, from the 11:30 start of wave 5. Slower runners may be moved to the pavement or offered the sweep bus. Anyone finishing by 22:00 gets an official result.

Weather in New York in November

These are the last five race days at Fort Wadsworth, at 9:00, the hour of the first wave, and at 13:00. The 2020 race was virtual, so the table starts in 2021.

Four of the five mornings were between 5.3 °C and 9.7 °C, and 2022 was the outlier at 19.9 °C. The temperature rose by 3.7 to 6.1 °C by 13:00, when the later waves are still running.

Afterwards

After the line you get a medal, the poncho and a recovery bag. You walk out of the park at West 77th Street onto Central Park West, and can leave the runners-only area at West 76th, 75th or 74th Street. The organiser warns that the crowd can overload the phone network near the finish, so agree a meeting point first.

Family Reunion runs on West 69th to 71st Streets from 11:00 to 18:00, with letters by surname. A to F are on West 71st, G to N on West 70th and O to Z on West 69th. The organiser suggests your family arrive 20 to 30 minutes after your expected finish.

Other race weekends

TCS New York City Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. The series' other races with a guide here are Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, TCS London Marathon, Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, TCS Sydney Marathon and Berlin Marathon.

The next races with a guide

Valencia Marathon6 December 2026 · Valencia, Spain Zurich Seville Marathon21 February 2027 · Seville, Spain Lisbon Half Marathon7 March 2027 · Lisbon, Portugal

All race weekend guides

Sources

Written from the organiser's published information and the app's own race data, checked on 2 October 2026.

If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us.