What it’s like to run the New York City Marathon route

The New York City Marathon is not the place where world records are set.

Those blistering times are clocked on flat and fast tracks in Chicago, Berlin and London. Runners there can simply be dropped off by a taxi shortly before the starting gun, yawn and set off.

This is New York.

This is a marathon for 50,000 people who embark on a public transport odyssey to reach a brutally challenging course that crosses five bridges and five boroughs.

It’s a race for runners who want to prove that this city deserves to be called the greatest in the world, home to the largest marathon in the world.

Marathon Sunday might as well be a holiday. It’s a reason to cheer on a random person doing something random on a random day for God knows what reason, but hey, you go. Write your name on your T-shirt and you’ll feel like a celebrity for 26 miles.

Here’s a guide to the New York City Marathon, from the point of view of the 50,000 lucky runners.

The marathon before the marathon

To run the New York City Marathon, you must get to the starting line.

If you don’t take a chartered bus over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge before it closes to traffic, you’ll likely take a combination of taxi, subway, ferry And a bus. You’ll soon know enough about public transportation to run the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the government agency that oversees the subway and buses.

If you’re confused by the maps and logistics, follow the people wearing layers of fluffy clothing and carrying bananas and water bottles in clear plastic bags. They will lead you to the starting village.

Set up shop in the starting village

On the marathon map you will see a large dot indicating the starting line. What you won’t see is the sprawling village there – a gathering place for the tens of thousands of people nervously waiting to be called for their turn.

There are tents with therapy dogs and tents with coffee. There are tents with groups that stretch out and tents with bagels. There are 1,700 toilets and an incredible number of people queuing for their pre-race poop. You can laugh, but soon enough it will be you.

Finally, your wave of runners will be called to the starting line. Suddenly you’re at the foot of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and soldiers and police are restraining your energy (really). With the sound of a cannon, the officers release you and Frank Sinatra welcomes you to the streets of New York.

But don’t forget you are at the foot of a two mile long bridge. That means your legs will have to slow down a bit, and that’s a good thing. Look to the left. Want to see Manhattan? One World Trade Center? The Empire State Building?

Don’t get too excited too quickly; you still have many kilometers ahead of you.

‘Welcome to Brooklyn’

There’s usually someone on the other side of the bridge with a sign welcoming you to Brooklyn. They are the first of the millions of spectators who will greet you near them.

Turn right onto Fourth Avenue and merge. Four and a half miles straight through Bay Ridge, Sunset Park and Park Slope you wind into downtown Brooklyn.

The crowds on Fourth Avenue increase the closer you get to Barclays Center, and it’s easy to get carried away. Greet the bands, give high-fives to children and thank the volunteers who hand out water. You’ve already got eight miles under you.

Some of the best parties on the track take place on the sidewalks of brownstones along Lafayette Avenue. There will be music. There will be dancing. Take that energy and give it right back. Dance a little, smile and thank everyone for cheering you on.

Now keep the support of the crowd close. You’ll need it later.

Donuts in Williamsburg and Greenpoint

The crowds in South Williamsburg are calming down, a perfect time to take stock. You have now reached double digits in your mileage. Do you need more water? Running gels? Are you going too fast? Too slow?

Take a few deep breaths. Soon you’ll find yourself in the party pockets of North Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where chances are you’ll be offered bananas, donuts and shots of alcohol.

Participate at your own risk; you’ll have to run across the Pulaski Bridge to Queens soon.

Dive through Koninginnen and then hit the ‘Woo’ bridge

It’s normal to change in Queens and take an exaggerated sip. Yes, that’s the Queensboro Bridge up ahead, and yes, it’s big and long.

That’s why the crowds in Long Island City are so good. Get some extra high-fives here as you quickly zigzag through the neighborhood for three kilometers. Then a silence will descend as you charge onto the bridge. All you hear is the clatter of running shoes and the labored breathing of marathon runners.

After a while, some runners will start to cheer, knowing that even if you’ve completed 15 miles, you all need some encouragement. Let out a “woo” that will resonate as you push each other along, and share some words of encouragement. Listen to your breathing and stay calm.

As you leave the Queensboro Bridge and enter Manhattan, lean to the left and walk straight into a wall of sound. On either side of First Avenue, crowds of four to five people will crane their necks in search of their loved ones.

You still have 10 miles to go. Use the hills on First Avenue and keep an eye on the house numbers. The Willis Avenue Bridge to the Bronx awaits you past 125th Street.

A boogie-filled outing in the Bronx

No community shows more pride than the Bronx. The local running teams provide the music and spirit you need when you complete the 20 kilometers.

Break through that wall – as a sign will inevitably say – and then get over that last bridge. The energy of the Bronx drives you back to Manhattan.

Not quite the Fifth Avenue Homestretch

You return to Manhattan on Fifth Avenue and realize that this is the street that takes you to Central Park, home of the finish line. You have less than 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles) to go. This is where the race really begins.

Keep a cool head as you run from 138th Street to Central Park North at 110th Street. There begins a hill. It’s not a mountain, but from mile 23 it might as well be. Put your head down and your knees up as you pump your arms.

Central Park invites you

A sharp right turn on 90th Street will take you to Central Park, and suddenly it will dawn on you.

You still have a little over two miles to go.

You’re in the park, the park you’ve been running to for the past 25 miles. You’re really going to do it. You’re really going to finish this thing.

There are some hills in the park – don’t say we didn’t warn you – but take them as they come.

Keep it together. Now say that to yourself a few times.

You’ll be spit out of the park (on a downhill) to run along Central Park South. When you turn right into the park at Columbus Circle, hundreds of flags will wave to welcome you home. For the first time, people who shout “you’re almost there” are telling the truth.

Your whole body should be screaming too. That means you did this right. Let your adrenaline pull you over that last slope.

Cross the finish line in one final step and finally stop running. Place your hands above your head and breathe.

Shuffle towards the medals and smile.

You’ve earned it.