When it comes to marathon courses, New York City is as iconic as it is challenging. On Sunday, thousands of runners took on 42.2 kilometres through all five boroughs, which began on Staten Island, crossed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, wound through the streets of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, dipped into the Bronx, and ended with an unforgettable finish in Central Park. With more than 55,000 finishers in 2024, NYC is the world’s largest marathon. It’s also, despite its scale, one of the slowest among the six Abbott World Majors. But exactly how slow is it?
On paper, the course doesn’t look overly intimidating. Unlike marathons with two or three major climbs (i.e., Boston) NYC spreads its nearly 300 metres of elevation gain throughout the route, strategically placed to sap runner’s energy at crucial moments. While the bridges offer spectacular views of what’s ahead, they present gradual climbs that test runners early, especially on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (which spans three kilometres). As the race continues, the challenges increase with inclines on First Ave into The Bronx and the rolling hills of Central Park in the final miles, making New York a yo-yo of easy and hard miles.
This relentless design isn’t all that slows runners down. The course features 26 turns, forcing athletes to frequently adjust their pacesm almost like they are running cross country. Even the elite field feels the effects; most runners finish three to five minutes slower than their best times on flatter, faster courses. In fact, over the past five years, the average winning time for women has been 2:24:30. This is about seven minutes slower than the average women’s winning time at the other 2024 Abbott World Majors. The men’s race has similar results: Abdi Nageeye, the 2024 NYC men’s champion, finished nearly three minutes behind his lifetime best of 2:04:45.
There were similar results across the board. American elite runner CJ Albertson, who ran a personal best of 2:08:17 in Chicago three weeks ago, told media post-race that he felt he executed better in New York City, remarking that a 2:10 in New York feels like running faster than the time suggests, due to the sheer physical and mental strain of the course. Canada’s Rory Linkletter agreed, comparing the NYC Marathon to a long, strategic game where timing and patience are crucial. With elevation gains, steady headwinds and constant pace changes, it’s a marathon where no mile is ever truly “easy.”
A dive into the top men’s and women’s finish times versus their personal bests reveals an average slowdown of about four minutes and four seconds. So if you’re reading this and ran within that margin of your best, you might as well consider it a personal record!
