Every year the Marathon gets more than 30,000 runners from around the world and if the weather is good you'll find well up to 2 million New Yorkers in the streets to cheer them on.

So - yes - Marathon Sunday is a really big event. Major bridges and roads are closed for much of the day and the part of the City from 59th St north is very difficult to get around. (Handicapped runners start as early as 9am - meaning roads are closed by 7 - and they keep the route open for slower runners until - I believe - 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

(When the runners come off the 50th street bridge to turn up First Ave in Manhattan the streets are packed so tightly you can barely move. Many restaurants and bars start very early brunches that day and a lot of people living along the route have parties - so friends can watch from their apratments rather then being squahsed in the streets. I've been to 3 or 4 - and the enthusiasm is always incredible.)

Plus the finish line in Central Park is mobbed by the 30,000 runners and their families/friends - so don;t plan on eatig or seeing anything in that area.

Have you checked to see if that's when you'll be here? If so - plan on doing things below 59th St that day. Or else - watching the race on First Ave.