Combine your New York holiday with the NYC Marathon. Photo / Getty Images
Combine your New York holiday with the NYC Marathon. Photo / Getty Images
Why walk, bus or subway when you can run? Fiona Harper takes a unique tour through New York’s five famed boroughs.
It’s 4am on the first Sunday in November and the city that never sleeps is wide awake. So am I. I’ve barely slept a wink yet my body is buzzing with adrenaline. Slipping into my running shoes I can barely contain my excitement. I am very anxious to get out the door. After many years thinking about running the New York City Marathon, running hundreds, nay, thousands of training km in preparation, I’m very excited that marathon day is finally here.
The first NYC Marathon in 1970 had only 127 runners; now, over 50,000 finish annually. Photo / 123rf
But first I must wake my late-to-bed, late-to-rise sister and brother-in-law. We’ve all flown halfway around the world to spend a week in New York. Jetlag is very real. And it’s not pretty. I’ve tasked Jaci and John with two important jobs – get me to the start line on time and then find my exhausted shell of a body at the finish line and get me back to the apartment. We’ve planned our route meticulously. Leaving home at 4.30am leaves enough room for error as we get across town via Uber, the subway and by foot to get us to the ferry leaving from downtown for the start-line precinct beneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island. It’s no mean feat because we’re staying in New Jersey’s Hoboken district, not downtown New York.
NYC skyline seen from New Jersey's Hoboken district. Photo / Getty Images
Though we’re close enough to the Big Apple to enjoy the city lights twinkling across the Hudson River, we’re smack in the heart of an eclectic urban neighbourhood we quickly grow to love. It turns out we have the best of both worlds. Manhattan and downtown with all its big city attractions are a short bus or ferry ride from our front door. Yet we have a handful of intimate local bars, fabulous restaurants and a bakery selling to-die-for sourdough bread, all a few minutes walk from our apartment, which has all the shabby chic I imagined of a New York loft apartment.
Before race day we’d mostly hung out in Hoboken soaking up the vibe. In between, we’d made trips across the Hudson to wander around Times Square where oversized flashing neon billboards screamed for attention, then found quiet moments of reflection wandering the spiral galleries of the Guggenheim Museum. We’d eaten our fill of bagels and my sister had satisfied her desire to consume a classic New York pastrami sandwich, purchased from a deli that looked like it was straight out of a Seinfeld episode.
The iconic start of the NYC Marathon at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge offers stunning views of New York Harbour. Photo / 123rf
With the marathon my main focus, I was keen to conserve energy and stay off my feet until after the race. A marathon leaves nowhere to hide and I didn’t want to exhaust myself sightseeing. Though in reality, I wanted to be out wandering New York’s streets, exploring the city I’d seen in thousands of movies and TV shows. But that was for later. First, I had to run 42km through five boroughs. Starting at Staten Island, through Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan, I had my own New York City scenic foot tour ahead of me.
The marathon’s humble beginning – when 127 runners did four loops of Central Park in 1970 – has grown into one of the world’s iconic running events. In 2024, the race set a world record for number of finishers – 55,646 from a starting field of 56,012 runners. Running a marathon is hard. Nay, it’s brutal. Actually, it’s gut-wrenching, heartbreaking and anxiety-inducing next-level hard to keep running hour after hour. After hour. Though it’s equally exhilarating, soul-enrichening and definitely one of the most incredible races this runner has ever done.
However, getting a spot on the starting line is almost as tough as the race itself. Elite runners are invited according to form and ranking. But most of the field is made up of ordinary “age-groupers” like myself who were there purely for the thrill of running a marathon in a city like New York. Most of us earned our spot through the ballot system, which attracted almost 165,000 applications in 2024. After entering the ballot three times, my number finally came up with a coveted spot on the starting line.
The NYC Marathon spans five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. Photo / 123rf
But it’s not only runners who enjoy the New York City Marathon. The entire city seems to embrace the first Sunday in November. Numbers are ambiguous, but it’s estimated 2 million New Yorkers line the streets to support friends and family, and to encourage complete strangers. Others use the marathon as an excuse to create their own street party, which has absolutely nothing to do with Lyrca or running shoes. And everything to do with having a good time.
The marathon brings usually traffic-clogged streets to a grinding halt. The vibe lining the route is electric. Amped-up rock bands compete with bedazzled brass bands. Melodic tones of elegantly gowned gospel choir singers rise above spectators screaming themselves hoarse. Percussion bands throb. Party-goers hoot and holler at the endless stream of runners. Wine and beer flow liberally. The unmistakable smell of weed wafts down from balconies.
The NYC Marathon contributes over US$400 million to the city’s economy annually. Photo / 123rf
At the Staten Island start line, Frank Sinatra’s dulcet tones sent us off into the streets of New York, New York. In Brooklyn I danced with hipsters, stomped to drumbeats and traded jibes with party-goers hanging out of windows in Queens. In the Bronx I paused to catch my breath as Scottish bagpipes wailed. As I worked my way towards Manhattan, the Central Park finish line loomed enticingly close. The crowds lining Fifth Avenue were so dense there was barely enough room to run through the throng. With less than 2km to the Central Park finish line I barely had the energy to put one foot in front of the other. But I was running through Manhattan and felt (briefly) like a rock star as the crowds cheered for every single fatigued runner.
Running a marathon is physically exhausting. But it’s extremely emotional too. As the finish line loomed, tears flowed freely. Tears of joy, tears of pain, tears of relief. Clutching my coveted finisher’s medal embossed with Lady Liberty herself, I looked around the crowd, dazed and emotionally spent, wondering how on earth I was going to get back to our apartment. Luckily, my sister and brother-in-law had taken their jobs seriously. Somehow they found me, swooping me off for pizza and beer in our Hoboken neighbourhood. With the city twinkling across the Hudson River we understood that New Yorkers sure know how to put on one hell of a party.
Checklist
NEW YORK CITY
GETTING THERE
Fly non-stop from Auckland to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) with Air NZ and Qantas, in about 15 hours 30 minutes.
DETAILS
The next NYC Marathon takes place on Sunday, November 2, 2025.
The marathon passes through five city boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.
Each year the New York City Marathon attracts upwards of 100,000 wannabe runners keen to join the world’s biggest street party. But with entry numbers capped near 50,000, getting a coveted entry is almost as tough as the race itself.
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