Hotels for New York City Marathon 2026

Nearly two million spectators line the streets to watch runners cross five boroughs before finishing in Midtown, and the crowd noise builds steadily through the day as waves of finishers arrive. Every block along the route takes on a different character, from the quiet opening miles to the roar near the final stretch.

Bands, cheer squads and families with handmade signs turn the whole course into a day-long street party. For runners it is as much about the crowd support as the distance itself, and for everyone else it is a free, chaotic, good-natured day out.

The TCS New York City Marathon, first held in 1970, is the largest marathon in the world — the 2024 race recorded more than 55,000 finishers — and one of the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors. Founded by Fred Lebow, it began as a low-key event of several laps around Central Park before expanding in 1976 to the five-borough route that now defines it.

Runners cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge from Staten Island, head up through Brooklyn and Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, briefly into the Bronx and home to the finish in Central Park. The point-to-point course has a famously early and remote start at Fort Wadsworth, reached by the Staten Island Ferry or official buses from Manhattan.

Early November usually brings crisp running weather, and the city fills for race weekend. The sensible base is Manhattan, near the finish and the expo at the Javits Center, with an early journey out to the start.