Stop 1
Street
Corner
Which side
Pick a street first
The NYC Marathon Spectator Guide for Sunday, November 1, 2026 Your day.
Your corners.
Zero sprinting.
I have had people see me all over this course — Brooklyn, First Avenue, the last half mile — and the plans that worked had one thing in common: nobody ran for a train. Your runner is doing the running. So build the day yourself: say how many times you want to see them, pick any corner on any street they run down, and from there this page only ever offers you a next stop you can genuinely make. Set it up once, screenshot the sheet at the bottom, and spend race day cheering instead of navigating.
Running it yourself? The runner's guide is here. Making a week of it? Check out The Radar.
Section 1: Your Runner Their plan is your timetable
The cannon fires on time, the chip starts at the mat, and from there a runner on a plan is more predictable than the subway. Every time on this page is the cannon plus their own splits — the same maths their plan uses — with a window for where they stood in the corral.
Your runner
Their day, on your clock
If they sent you this link, their numbers are already in. Every time below moves with them, so change nothing unless they tell you to — and if they said "I'll go out easy", believe the slider, not the runner.
Quick targets
Pacing model
Wave
Start color
It decides which side of Fourth Avenue your runner runs: Blue and Pink on the east roadway, Orange on the west.
Cannon
10:20 AM
Halfway
1:59:58
Goal
4:00:00
Changed something? The link you share from here already has it.
Section 2: Build Your Day One stop at a time
Every street the runners are on is in here, corner by corner, with the minute your runner reaches it. Pick the first stop anywhere you like. After that the list narrows itself: the only corners offered are the ones the Sunday subway can get you to while your runner is still short of them, and every leg comes with the trains, the walks and an honest verdict on the margin. Want company on the sidewalk? Run-club and sponsor cheer zones are on the Radar.
- your spots
- subway
- reunion
Step one
How many times do you want to see your runner?
Three is what most crews manage without spending the day underground, and every extra stop is a train you have to catch. Pick a number and the rest of this section walks you through the stops.
Every crew starts on a different day, drawn at random for your runner's pace, so the whole crowd isn't packed onto the same three corners. Change any stop below, draw another day, or take the three I send my own people to: Bergen Street, First Avenue in the low 70s and Central Park South.
Choose stop 1 first — where you can get to next depends entirely on where you are standing and what time your runner leaves it.
Choose stop 2 first — where you can get to next depends entirely on where you are standing and what time your runner leaves it.
The window, explained. "Passes" runs from the front of the wave to the back: a corral takes a few minutes to cross the start, and that gap follows your runner all day. Be in place by the earlier time. After mile 10, trust the live dot in the app over any number here.
Where you can't stand. All five bridges are closed to spectators — the Verrazzano, the Pulaski, the Queensboro, the Willis Avenue and the Madison Avenue — and so are the expressway ramps down into Bay Ridge, the secure start village, and the ticketed finish chute past Columbus Circle. Those stretches are missing from the list on purpose, not by accident, which is why the course goes quiet between miles 14.6 and 15.9.
Section 3: Getting Around Marathon Sunday underground
One line, if you can
Barclays to 72nd to 57th
The plan above will route you however the trains actually run, but the day is easiest on a single line. The Q stops two blocks from Fourth Avenue, one block from First Avenue and two from Central Park South: no transfers, no crossing the course, no cab. If your stops line up on it, take it.
- Pick your side before you go underground. The avenue you are heading for has the whole field on it. Come up on the side you mean to stand on — the station exits and the cards above tell you which.
- Never step onto the course. Not for a photo, not for a hug. As the miles mount, marathoners' lateral agility drops to zero.
- Charge the phone, carry a card. The app, the map, the ticket and the coffee all live on it, and you will be out for six hours.
Marathon Sunday on the MTA
Busy, managed, and mostly fine
The subway runs a Sunday schedule with race-day crowd control: platform controllers at the stations near the finish and the big viewing spots, some stairways made entrance- or exit-only (72nd Street among them), and buses diverted off the course while the streets are closed. Platforms are packed for a minute after each train and empty the next — the wait is built into every leg above.
The streets themselves close early: Fourth Avenue from 92nd to Flatbush, First Avenue from 59th to the Willis Avenue Bridge, Fifth Avenue from 138th down to 90th, and Central Park South and the drives. You cross them where the police say you can, which is not always where you want to.
The MTA publishes its marathon advisory in late October — check it the week of the race.
Section 4: Spotting Them You get about twenty seconds
Before
The app, the corner, the side
- Download the official TCS New York City Marathon app the day before and add your runner by bib number. It tracks up to ten runners with a live dot on the map, and after mile 10 that dot beats every time on this page.
- Agree the exact corner and the side. "First Avenue" is two miles long and five lanes wide. "West side of First at 72nd, by the corner" is a plan. Your runner will hold that side for a block if they know you are on it.
- Know what they are wearing. There are 50,000 people in running kit. You are looking for one hat.
On the corner
Be loud, be tall, be early
- A sign with their name in big letters beats the funniest pun on the avenue. They are scanning for their name, not reading.
- Watch the app, not the road, until the dot is a few blocks out. Then look up, find the hat, and shout the name. You have about twenty seconds from first sight to gone — have the phone up for the photo before they arrive, not after.
- If they stop, keep it short. A hug, a gel, and go. The best thing you can do for a marathoner at mile 17 is not make them stand still.
Section 5: After the Finish The long walk out
The finish line is not where you meet. Runners cross at Tavern on the Green, collect a medal, a poncho and a recovery bag, and then walk — north up the West Drive and out onto Central Park West, or south to the bag pickup — before the NYRR Family Reunion area, Central Park West between 63rd and 66th, by last-name letter. Allow the best part of an hour from the line.
Your runner finishes
2:28 PM
give or take the back of the wave
At the reunion area
3:13 PM
about 45 min after the line
Your way there
20m
from your last stop
- Find the letter. The reunion area is organised by the first letter of the runner's last name. Stand under it and stay put; a moving target in that crowd is never found.
- Bring the things they could not carry. A warm layer even in the poncho, dry socks, something salty, something sweet, and the water they will insist they do not need.
- Then a short walk, not a long one. Downtown trains at Columbus Circle are two blocks away and packed. A café on Columbus Avenue and a slow twenty minutes is the better first move.
Then make a day of Monday: medal engraving, finisher deals and the parties are on the Radar.
Section 6: Crew Sheet One page for your pocket
Every spot, every time, every train, and where to meet — from the plan you set above. Print it or screenshot it, and give a copy to whoever is coming with you.
One page. Screenshot it, pocket it, and stop doing subway math on the platform.
NYC Marathon · Nov 1, 2026 · Your runner
Goal 4:00:00 · Course-aware · Wave 3 (10:20 AM) · Blue start
| # | Stop | Side | Be there by | Passes | Then |
|---|
After the finish
Your runner finishes ~2:28 PM and reaches the NYRR Family Reunion area ~3:13 PM. Central Park West between 63rd and 66th, by last-name letter. Poncho-only runners exit north and walk down; bag pickup is south. Bring a layer, something salty, and patience.
On the day
Track the bib in the official TCS NYC Marathon app — the live dot beats every time on this sheet after mile 10. Pick your side before you go underground. Never step onto the course. Charge the phone.
Unofficial guide · not affiliated with NYRR or TCS · times are estimates from the runner's own plan and the MTA's published Sunday schedules · the MTA marathon advisory lands in late October — check it.
Questions The short answers
The three spots I send my own people to are Fourth Avenue at Bergen Street in Brooklyn, First Avenue in the low 70s, and Central Park South. The planner above works for any corner on the course and tells you whether you can make the next one in time.
The Q. It stops two blocks from Fourth Avenue, one block from First Avenue and two from Central Park South, so you can see your runner three times with no transfers and without crossing the course.
Three is what most crews manage without spending the day underground. A fourth stop is possible, usually only for a runner finishing in 4:15 or slower.
It depends on their wave and their pace. The waves start at 9:10, 9:45, 10:20, 10:55 and 11:30 AM. Put their goal time and wave into the planner above and it gives the minute they reach each corner. Be in place 15 minutes before the earliest time.
Download the official TCS New York City Marathon app the day before and add your runner by bib number. It tracks up to ten runners with a live dot on the map. After mile 10, trust the dot over any predicted time.
All five bridges are closed to spectators: the Verrazzano, the Pulaski, the Queensboro, the Willis Avenue and the Madison Avenue. So are the expressway ramps into Bay Ridge, the start village and the ticketed finish area past Columbus Circle.
Only where the police let you, which is not always where you want to. Come up from the subway on the side of the avenue you mean to stand on, and never step onto the course.
Not at the finish line. Meet at the NYRR Family Reunion area on Central Park West between 63rd and 66th Streets, under the first letter of your runner's last name. Allow about 45 minutes from the moment they finish.