The Six Minute Mile Holiday Gift Guide
Don’t stress about shopping for your running-obsessed friends and family members—or yourself, wink wink!—we’ve got you covered with the gifts runners want and the gifts runners need.
Here’s the key info about the 2025 New York City Marathon on November 2, including elite runner fields, shakeout runs, course details, special edition shoes, broadcast details, how to track runners, and more.
When it comes to running, the New York City Marathon is in a class by itself, and as a runner, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
It’s the consummate New York event, sending runners on a rolling, 26.2-mile point-to-point race that traverses all five boroughs of the Big Apple. It starts on Staten Island, sends runners over the dramatic Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, ventures through Brooklyn, across the Pulaski Bridge into Queens, over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, through the Bronx via the Willis Avenue Bridge, and concludes back in Manhattan with the final 4 miles through Central Park. The race is also notable for having unrivaled spectator support compared to any other marathon in the world (especially in Brooklyn, along 1st Avenue and in Central Park), and some of the best—and funniest signs—can be sign along the side of the course.
The course is known for its hills, particularly the initial climb up the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and the climb up the Queensboro Bridge at mile 16, and the final, rolling hills within Central Park. Overall, the course includes about 900 feet of elevation gain, which is more than the marathon courses in Chicago (vertical gain of 243 feet), London (vertical gain of 419 feet), and Boston (vertical gain of 815 feet, but an overall net loss of 1,200 feet).
Because of all of that, the New York City Marathon typically isn’t the fastest race of the year (for pros and age-group runners alike), and nor are the course records on par with the much faster times set in Chicago, London, Berlin, or Tokyo. Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola set a new NYC course record for men with his 2:04:58 winning time 2023, while the women’s course record dates back to Kenayan runner Margaret Okayo’s 2:22:31 effort in 2003.
Race officials have said there is a field of “more than 55,000 runners” entered in this year’s race. Last year, a record 55,646 runners finished the race, making it the world’s largest marathon in history.
Here is the official map of the course. For a full preview of the course, check out this video tour.
The 2025 New York City Marathon Expo will once again be held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center at 11th Avenue at West 36th Street on October 30–November 1. Marathon runners must visit the Expo in person to pick up their race materials and must bring photo ID and their runner confirmation form with them.
(Runners must select a time slot to visit the Expo in their NYRR online dashboard before Saturday, November 1 at 4 p.m. ET. Bib pickup closes at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, and at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.)
Whether you’re running on Sunday or not, there are a crazy amount of shakeout runs, panel discussions, pop-up shops, and more slated for later this week and weekend, including the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K on Saturday morning.
The race-day forecast for the 2025 New York City Marathon is calling for partly cloudy conditions with a low of 46 degrees in the morning and a high of 56 degrees by the afternoon, and only a 21 percent chance of rain. Wind is not expected to be a major factor, potentially making for near-ideal conditions with a “real feel” temperature around 48 degrees at race time.
As usual, the men’s and women’s elite fields for the 2025 New York City Marathon are exceptionally strong. The men’s race will feature marathon legends Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya (2:01:09) and Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia (2:01:41), alongside Somani-Dutch runner Abdi Nageeye (2:04:45), who won the New York City Marathon last year in 2:07:39. Other top contenders include a powerful Kenyan trio of Evans Chebet (2:03:00), the 2022 NYC winner and 2022 and 2023 Boston Marathon champ, Benson Kipruto (2:02:16), the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, and Alexander Mutiso (2:03:01), the 2024 London Marathon winner. Rounding out the top competitors are 2025 world champion Alphonce Simbu of Tanzania (2:04:38) and 2021 NYC champion Albert Korir of Kenya (2:06:57).
The top American men running the 2025 New York City Marathon include Biya Simbassa (2:06:53), U.S. half marathon champion Alex Maier (2:08:33), and newcomers Joe Klecker and Hillary Bor, who have each represented the U.S. on the track in the Olympics.
On the women’s side, the top runners Ethiopian-born Dutch Olympic champion Sifan Hassan (2:13:44) and the Kenyan trio of Hellen Obiri (2:17:41), the 2024 London champion and 2024 Olympic bronze medalist, Sharon Lokedi (2:17:22), the 2022 NYC champion and 2025 Boston Marathon winner, and Peres Jepchirchir (2:16:16), the 2020 Olympic champion and 2021 New York City Marathon winner.
The top U.S. women in the field are American record-holder and 2024 Olympian Emily Sisson (2:18:29), who is making her New York City Marathon debut, 2020 Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel (2:23:07), who was fourth in the 2021 New York City Marathon, 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon champion Fiona O’Keeffe (2:22:10), and marathon newcomer Amanda Vestri, who owns a 1:07:35 half-marathon PR.
The 2025 New York City Marathon grand marshall is CC Sabathia, the former New York Yankees pitcher who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year. Sabathia isn’t running, but he will greet athletes at the start line on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on race morning and celebrate runners as they cross the iconic Central Park finish line.
Since retiring in 2019, Sabathia has been active in the community through his PitCCh In Foundation, a nonprofit with programs that equip inner-city youth with tools for success in school and on the field. PitCCh In Foundation’s running team, Team 52, will have 20 runners participating in the 2025 New York City Marathon in support of the foundation.
Among the notable runners who will be running the race on Sunday include actor, singer, and songwriter Anthony Ramos, who starred in the original cast of “Hamilton” on Broadway. He will be running his first marathon alongside a group that includes his high school guidance counselor, brother, and run coach and U.S. Olympic marathoner Des Linden. Actor Oliver Phelps, best known for playing George Weasley in the Harry Potter film adaptations and host of “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking,” will be running his first marathon in support of The Matt Hampson Foundation ahead of the season two premiere of his show.
Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service frontman Ben Gibbard and guitarist Dave Depper will be running to support sustainability nonprofit Protect Our Winters. Queens-native hip-hop icon and “Drink Champs” host N.O.R.E. will return to the five boroughs to run his first marathon alongside his Run Champs run crew. Several Broadway stars are running to support Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, including Jordan Litz, who currently stars as Fiyero in “Wicked,” and Merle Dandridge, who recently completed a run as Persephone in “Hadestown.”
“Summer House” star Carl Radke is running his first marathon on behalf of Release Recovery to advocate for running as a powerful tool to support sobriety. Phil Keoghan, the host of “The Amazing Race,” will be running his first marathon in support of his friend and former “The Amazing Race” contestant Terence Gerchberg’s charity Back on My Feet. Additional notables from reality television programs include “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” stars Tyler Cameron, Joey Graziadei (who also won the last season of “Dancing with the Stars”), Matt James, Zac Clark, Joe Amabile, and Tanner Courtad; and Bryan Arenales, Nic Vansteenberghe, and Elan Bibas from “Love Island USA.”
You can watch the 2025 New York City Marathon on ESPN2 and the ESPN App for national coverage from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET. In the New York tri-state area, the race will also be shown on WABC-TV (Channel 7), and the ABC 7 New York App and ABC7NY.com will stream it from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET.
The NYRR App offers full live coverage and runner tracking. Finish line streaming will be available on ABC7NY.com from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. You can also catch the race-day broadcast live on iHeartRadio’s 710 WOR AM and 104.3HD2 in New York, starting at 7 a.m. ET or listen via the iHeartRadio app from 8 a.m. ET.
A live two-hour show from the finish line will air nationally on ABC TV stations, covering celebrities and thousands of everyday runners crossing the finish line. from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET. (Check local listings for other time zones.)
Runners who meet time standards in 2025 at specific New York Road Runners (NYRR) races are eligible for guaranteed non-complimentary entry to the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon. Runners who qualify at an eligible NYRR race can claim their guaranteed non-complimentary entry during the claim period from February 4-25, 2026.
The drawing for the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon will take place on March 4.
The entries available to non-guaranteed applicants will be filled through three drawings, one in each of the following applicant pools: 1. “NYC metro area” applicants: Residents in and within 60 miles of New York City; 2. “National” applicants: U.S. residents outside of the NYC metro area, including Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories; 3. “International” applicants: Non-U.S. residents.
A second-chance drawing for current NYRR members who meet the eligibility criteria and apply to the non-guaranteed general entry drawing will automatically be entered into the NYRR Member-Only Second-Chance Drawing taking place on March 4, 2026. To be eligible, a runner’s NYRR Membership must be active as of February 3 and remain active through drawing day on March 4.
Craft has partnered with New York City’s legendary Lucia pizzeria to launch a special edition of its Kype Pro racing shoe. This shoe is a slice of classic New York style, reimagined through Craft’s hero racing shoe. The shoe will be available at Craft’s SoHo pop-up shop on October 30 from 6:30-9:30 p.m. (Watch this video for more back story about this shoe.)
Inspired by iconic artist Keith Haring, Saucony’s New York City edition of the Endorphin Speed 5 special-edition performance trainer infuses his signature bold graphics that pay homage to the man who made the streets his canvas. A newly designed nylon plate and responsive PWRRUN PB cushioning come together for snappy transitions and a fast ride perfect for you to hit the streets. There’s also a Keith Haring X Saucony NYC Guide 18 mild stability trainer in a similar color motif ($150) and several other NYC shoes from Saucony.
The light and fast New York City Marathon FuelCell Rebel v5 everyday trainer features a PEBA-blended FuelCell midsole for energy return that combines a lightweight trainer with a bold design to help runners stand out. The sleek design with special edition New York City details makes for the perfect training shoe to kick off the training block.
The 2025 New York City Marathonspecial makeup of the FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5 marathon racing super shoe is built for setting new personal best times. Every aspect of the ultra-light, energy returning design offers innovation, geared towards runners striving toward their fastest time over a marathon. (For more, read our in-depth review of this shoe.)
RELATED: How Carbon-Plated Super Shoes Re-Energized My Racing
RELATED: The Best Marathon Racing Super Shoes for Fall 2025
RELATED: Shoe Review: 8 Super Shoes for Racing Marathons in 2025
RELATED: The Ultimate Guide to Marathon Gear: Super Shoes, Apparel, Hydration, Nutrition & Tech
