New York City Marathon 2026

The TCS New York City Marathon crosses all five boroughs, from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island to a finish in Central Park. It set a world record for finishers in 2025 with 59,226 runners. Most entrants come through the general entry drawing held each February; runners who have finished the race fifteen times hold a guaranteed place for life.

The New York City Marathon is the largest marathon in the world by number of finishers, with recent editions taking more than fifty thousand runners across the line. It began in 1970 as a race of four laps inside Central Park, with 127 starters and 55 finishers, and was reshaped in 1976 for the United States bicentennial into a course through all five boroughs — the format that made it a global event. Runners start on Staten Island, cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn, pass through Queens, take the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, loop briefly into the Bronx and finish in Central Park. It is one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and general entry is allocated largely by ballot, so most runners plan a year or more ahead. The crowds are the defining feature: near-continuous spectators and neighbourhood bands along most of the route. The 2026 race is scheduled for 1 November.

• AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)