New York City Marathon course guide: five boroughs and five bridges

New York City Marathon 2027: date, start, entry

The 2027 TCS New York City Marathon is on Sunday 7 November 2027. It starts at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, by the approach to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and finishes in Central Park beside Tavern on the Green. Race week also includes the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K.

Runners without guaranteed entry can apply to the non-guaranteed drawing, but the 2027 application dates have not been announced yet. NYRR members who apply are also entered into a member-only second-chance drawing. Guaranteed entry comes through official charity partners (to be announced in spring 2027), official international tour operators (to be announced in early 2027), the NYRR 9+1 programme, time qualifying standards and 15 or more previous New York finishes.

The 2027 entry fee has not been published yet.

Official website: www.nyrr.org/tcsnycmarathon

Checked on 8 November 2026 against the official race website; confirm details there before you enter.

The course

Runners fill the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge at the start and drop into Brooklyn, running mostly along Fourth and Bedford Avenues through neighbourhoods such as Bay Ridge, Park Slope and Williamsburg. The Pulaski Bridge, at about halfway, takes the race into Queens.

The Queensboro Bridge then crosses the East River into Manhattan, and the course heads north on First Avenue. The Willis Avenue Bridge leads into the Bronx, and the Madison Avenue Bridge brings runners back into Manhattan about a mile later. The race then runs south on Fifth Avenue through Harlem and into Central Park.

On our map the line covers about 42.1 km with roughly 150 m of climbing.

Where it gets hard

The bridges are the climbs. The Queensboro Bridge, crossed on its lower level, is considered one of the most challenging points of the race, and it comes after halfway, when legs are already tired.

What New York is known for

The race began in 1970 as laps of Central Park and has run through all five boroughs since 1976. Today it is among the largest marathons in the world.

Running it

• Plan your journey to the Staten Island start early: it is a long way from the finish in Manhattan.
• Treat each bridge as a hill and ease off on the climbs rather than chasing your pace.
• Keep some energy for the final miles down Fifth Avenue and through Central Park.

Frame your New York finish

The New York City Marathon is available as a framed 3D map: the real terrain of the city printed in relief, with the course raised in colour. Add your name, date and finish time and we work out your pace. If you ran with a GPS watch, upload your GPX and we print your exact line.