The red line is the last 2.3 miles of the Marathon course. The green line is the after-finish walk.
After the finish there is a long, slow walk until you get out of the park. It used to take 30-50 minutes before you were out of the park and was able to meet friends and family. In 2013, with the new "no-baggage" option and one more wave, it took much less time. For me it took only 22 minutes from I crossed the finishing line until I had picked up my baggage, changed clothes and was out of the park at 81st. st! In 2021 it was even faster, about 20 minutes, since all runners received a poncho.
Please keep moving forward after crossing the finishing line. Otherwise everything stops up.
Shortly after the finish you get your finisher medal.
The next is that you get a goodie bag with some food and drink. Dont stop at the first who gives out the bags. If you walk 20 yards more you will get your goodie bag much faster.
Then all runners get a warm poncho. This is for both those who have checked baggage and not.
For those of you checking a bag, the bags are lined up between 69th st. and 72nd st. on Central Park West.
It's about 0.6 miles (1.0km) before you are out of the park at 77nd st. Then you have to walk south on Central Park West.
I suggest to go West to Columbus Avenue or Amsterdam Avenue when you have had your photo taken. Central Park West use to be very crowded. I also recommend to avoid Columbus Circle. It can be extremely crowded. You can use 76th st., 74th st. or 69th st. to go west to Columbus Avenue or Amsterdam Avenue. You can also continue south on Central Park West to the Family Reunion Area (the Green Rectangle). The ways out of the Runner's Only Area are the Green dotted lines.
The blue striped area is for runners only (except the Grandstands).
The 2 yellow lines before the finish are the East and West Grandstands. Tickets are required to enter there ($50). This is the only way to see the runners crossing the finishing line. But even if you have tickets there, you will not be able to MEET the runners until they are out of the park. They can not come back over the finishing line.
The Family Reunion Area is on Central Park West between 63rd st. and 66th st. It's often crowded, so for meeting family and friends, I suggest to just pick a point on the map outside of the park before the race. It can be a street corner, a coffee shop, a restaurant etc. It must be outside of the striped area on the map.
The 2 red S on Broadway are subway stations.
Many people say that the subway after the race is FREE for all finishers. That is NOT true! So bring money, credit card or Metro-card. The reason that many say it's free is probably that they were able to ride free themselves. Security some times open the gates when the lines are getting too long. But this is an EXCEPTION, not the rule.
Warning against pedicabs! Do NOT take one of the pedicabs after the finish! They charge crazy rates and they try to hide it until the trip is finished. I ended up paying $170 from the finish to my hotel in 2019. That is exactly ONE MILE! It's not illegal, so if you protest after the trip is over, you are out of luck. The only way to avoid this is to NEVER TAKE A PEDICAB!
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