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Best way to watch the New York City Marathon
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N59°42´57" E10°9´54"
Altitude: 853ft

 

Here is the map that I have made for the people watching the 2015 New York City Marathon. It should be easy to see the runners 2 times on the course, also 3 and 4 times is possible. Some explanations:

You can click on the map to get a larger map. Click on the bottom right on the zoomed map to go back to normal view.

  • The red dotted line is the marathon route.
  • The blue dotted line is the walk after the finish to get the baggage. It is packed and slow.
  • This walk is ONLY for runners, no family will have access there.
  • The runners exit at E, E2 or E3.
    • E is the "no-baggage" exit and E2 and E3 are the "baggage" exits. You will not know before finishing if you have to exit at E2 or E3.
  • F is the finishing line.
  • E, E2 and E3 are the first possible exits from the park.
  • NM is the new family reunion area (new in 2013). Here there are signs with the first letter of the runner's last name so you can meet there.
  • M is an alternate meeting place for family and friends. It is a wide area, but you are advised to meet a few blocks away from the exits. It usually takes 20-40 minutes from the runner cross the finishing line until they get to this point. The reason for considering meeting at M instead of NM is that NM probably will be very crowded. M is not organized by NYRR. You just have to agree upon meeting at a street corner, a restaurant etc. that you pick before the race.
  • S1 and S2 are two good points for family and friends to see the runners. The green dotted line is where I suggest that they walk. They have plenty of time to walk from S1 to S2 while the runner is in the Bronx. The reason why I recommend to go north on 5th Avenue to S2 instead of just standing where you hit 5th Avenue is that there is an almost 1 mile long hill ending right after S2. Most runners find this the hardest point of the course and will be happy if you cheer them on there.
  • After seeing the runners at S2 they can follow the green line to meet the runners after they finish. You can meet at M or NM.
  • If you do not want to cross the Marathon route on 5th Avenue, you can follow the purple dotted line to the west side of the park. Then you go under the route using the 86th st. Transverse.
  • The grey striped area in the park and west to Columbus Avenue is a "runners-only" area. Non-runners cannot access that area.

There are SO many people out cheering, so it's important that the friends / family agrees with the runner before the race exactly where they will be to cheer. Otherwise, it may happen, that the runner don't see them. Also, agree which side of the street. It may help if the spectators carry a flag, a sign or something that's easy to see.

You also have the possibility to see the runners 1 or 2 times in Brooklyn before going to the points that I have described in Manhattan. Then you are able to see the runners 3 or 4 times on the course. There are several options, taxi, bicycle, subway and more. However, I will only describe how to use the subway.

The safest is to see the runners one time in Brooklyn. Then you don't have to change subways. You can take the 4-subway from Manhattan to Nevins St. in Brooklyn. Then you are right on the course at the 8 mile mark (corner of Flatbush Ave. and Lafayette Ave.). The subway from for example 59th St. in Manhattan takes about 20 minutes. After seeing the runners there, you take the 4-subway back to Manhattan to 86th. St. Then you see the runners at my point S1, at about 17.5 miles. You should have plenty of time to get there, the subway takes about 25 minutes.

If you want to see the runners twice in Brooklyn, you can leave early for Nevins St. There you change to the R-subway at DeKalb Ave. and take the R-subway to 77th. St / 4th. Ave. at mile 5. Then you may have a problem getting back to mile 8 in time to see them again, so I don't recommend that.

In addition, you HAVE TO check the subway schedule the day before to see if there are any problems and make a note of the schedule. You can do that on the MTA web site.

Feel free to ask if you have any questions. I have run the New York City Marathon 36 times, so I should be able to answer many questions. Send me an email (runar.bg@gmail.com) if you have any comments or suggestions for improvements to the map.

GOOD LUCK!

Runar B. Gundersen, Updated: January 15, 2015

runar.bg@gmail.com