NYC Marathon Course Strategy: A Mile-by-Mile Breakdown
The Verrazzano climb, the Queensboro silence, the Bronx wall, Fifth Avenue and the Central Park hills: what every mile feels like and how to pace it.
The New York City Marathon is widely regarded as one of the hardest of the seven World Marathon Majors, with complicated start line logistics, long bridges that feel like mountains, and the rolling hills of Central Park hitting you when you're most tired.
But NYC also has some of the best crowds in running. After leaving Staten Island and covering the first two miles of the Verrazzano Bridge, you'll be greeted by nearly nonstop raucous cheering, with each neighborhood trying to outdo one another.
Mile 0-2
You'll line up on the bridge itself, right on the edge of Staten Island, as you wait for Sinatra's sultry voice to roll over you singing New York, New York - the signature kickoff song of the race.
The climb to the crest takes most of the first mile: about 95 feet at an average grade a little over 2%. It won't be hard though. Fresh legs trained to run 26+ miles make this stage easy, but also dangerous. Go out too hard and you've burned a match too early and tired legs may haunt when you need them most. Stick to your race plan, don't get caught up in the moment, and enjoy the camaraderie.
Three climbs shape the race: the Verrazzano at the start (about 95 feet), the Queensboro at mile 15.5 (about 110 feet) and Fifth Avenue before the park (about 80 feet). Run them by effort, not by the watch.
Helicopters overhead, the Atlantic to your right, and the Hudson emptying from the left. It's really a beautiful part of the race, and this is one of the few times the Verrazzano is open to foot traffic, so be sure to revel in this rare opportunity to see the city from a unique vantage point.
You'll crest the bridge and be greeted with a longer downhill, about 170 feet down by mile 2.5, that brings you right into Brooklyn. This isn't a Boston start where you have to worry too much about your quads later in the race, so take advantage of it, it's the biggest elevation drop you'll get.
The race splits into three different routes for the masses to ease congestion as you come off the bridge. Don't worry, you're all running essentially the same race and you'll converge soon. As you enter Brooklyn, get ready for the party.
Mile 3-13
The Brooklyn segment of the course is relatively flat and you'll be running through some narrow streets with trees that are in full fall foliage. You've got a straight shot up 4th Ave that is best described as a tunnel of people, the crowd support already multiple levels deep. Now is the time to focus on your pacing to level out your race strategy after the first bridge. You've got time, keep it even. Our race pacing guide covers the pacing strategies in more detail.
The stretch through Williamsburg and Greenpoint is quieter, so use it to reset. NYRR stocks water and Gatorade Endurance every mile from mile 3 to mile 25, except miles 5, 7 and 9, and there is a Maurten gel depot at mile 12. This is the most even keeled part of the course as you prepare for your next big bridge and cross into Queens.
Mile 13-15
The Pulaski Bridge marks the halfway point of the marathon and is your entry into Queens. You've got less than two miles in the neighborhood, so those who represent it pack into the relatively short stretch to catch a glimpse of runners going by. You're about to hit another bridge with the second big incline of the race. Check your fueling, check your pace, it's about to get raucous in the last ten miles of the race.
The Queensboro Bridge
My favorite part of the race. The Queensboro Bridge will have you cross from Queens to Manhattan and is another long climb, about 110 feet from the low point near mile 14 to the crest at mile 15.5, nearly all of it in the last mile. It's covered, long, and quiet. You no longer have the cheers from the start or a view out of either side, it's just you and the sounds of a hundred other racing shoes pounding next to you.
Curious what a climb like this costs at your pace? Our hills calculator turns a course's climbing into minutes.
The Queensboro Bridge is divided into two halves by a divider. One side is open to runners, the other side is closed. I found that a ton of people used this opportunity to puke over the divider to avoid doing so in front of the crowds.
Coming over the top of the Queensboro is when you start to hear it. A low humming, almost imperceptible. You're at 15.5mi and about to enter the most densely populated, busy city center in the United States. That hum isn't construction, it's thousands of fans screaming as loud as they can, the bridge echoing their voices into a cacophony of sound. It'll give you chills as you come back out into open air where you'll have crowd support for the remainder of the race.
Mile 16-19
The run up First Ave has a few rolling hills, but is otherwise flat. The energy coming off the bridge stays strong and will carry you through your first stretch of Upper Manhattan. The second Maurten gel depot is at mile 18. Fuel. Right now. If you forget to down something at the start of this stretch, thinking you can ride the energy through the end, you're making a mistake. Don't. forget. to. fuel.
Mile 19-21
A small bridge, the Willis Avenue Bridge at about mile 19.5, and you've crossed into the Bronx. It has its own contingent of crowds, but it'll be relatively smaller than what you just experienced through Manhattan. Those of you who ahem forgot to fuel will hit the wall here. You'll see runners dropping left and right as you pass the busiest med tent of the race besides the one at the finish line. If there's heat in the day, you'll feel it here. If you've underfueled, you'll feel it here. If you haven't been taking in water, you'll cramp here. About a mile and a half later you're out the other side, over the Madison Avenue Bridge and back into Manhattan.
Mile 21-22
The Madison Avenue Bridge drops you into Harlem, and the crowd support picks back up as you head south on Fifth Avenue. The ground is mostly flat here, with only about a dozen feet of gain. Expect gospel choirs and drummers around 138th Street, and plenty of struggling runners find a second wind in the noise.
Use the noise without chasing it. You have a hill coming, and it is not one of the bridges.
Mile 22-24
Everyone talks about the bridges, but one of the sneakiest hills on the course is the long, unbroken climb up Fifth Avenue before Central Park. Most runners think Manhattan is flat, and this is about 80 feet of steady uphill over a bit more than a mile, starting around mile 22.6 and topping out near mile 24.
Shorten your stride, raise your cadence, and don't try to hold pace. Hold effort. The park entrance is at the top.
Mile 24-25
As a wave 1 runner, Central Park was brutal. Thin crowds and rolling hills are your worst enemy at the end of a race.
You've arrived at Central Park, home of the finish line! But you still have a couple of miles to go, and the road rolls up and down the whole way. This is the toughest part of the race - tired legs meets rolling hills. If you're coming in as part of wave 1, crowd support is sparse at this point. You'll need to focus and lock it in to stay steady through these miles.
Mile 25-26
At about mile 25.7 you leave the park and run west along Central Park South (59th Street) toward Columbus Circle. It is one of the most crowded spots on the course. Columbus Circle looks like the end, but the finish is still ahead: you turn right at the circle, re-enter the park and climb to the line near Tavern on the Green.
Use that crowd to your full advantage and burn everything you have left getting to the finish line. Good job, you've made it!
The Finish
Smile, cross the line, stop your watch, get your medal, puke on the street. Whatever your finish line celebration is, it's just a small part of the journey you've just taken.
I thought I was being sneaky and on brand by puking into a storm drain. The "lifeguard on duty" (seriously, a volunteer in a lifeguard stand) spotted me and directed another volunteer to escort me to the med tent.
You'll have another quarter of a mile to stumble through to make it out of the corral and back to any supporters you have waiting for you. Stock up on food and water to refuel, grab a picture with your medal, and please ask for help if you need it. The volunteers are fantastic and here to support you. The med tent will be on the left if you need it, like I did.
You're finally done, congratulations.
More NYC Marathon Guides
- NYC Marathon Weather History: What 24 race days of hourly data show about the weather you can expect.
- Start Line Survival Guide: Everything you need for athlete's village.
- NYC Marathon Start Waves: What the gap between the first and last wave is worth in heat.
- Complete Packing List: Don't forget anything.
- NYC Marathon Weather Forecast: Check conditions and get weather-adjusted pacing.
- Race Pacing Guide: Pacing strategies, grade adjustment and the wall.
- Hills Calculator: What a course's climbing costs at your pace.
Running a hot NYC Marathon? Read our guide on how to run a marathon in the heat.