NYC Marathon Weekend
 

I've never been to NYC and my husband has only been once. We're looking to vacation there for our anniversary / my birthday. The weekend we want is November 5, staying through November 9. NYC marathon happens to be on November 6. Aside from having "issues" finding reasonable accommodations, do you think this is a bad idea?

Will the city be a nightmare the entire weekend (in terms of getting around, street / park closures, etc)? Will we "lose out" on experiencing NYC because of the marathon?

For some background, we're avid runners, and enjoy cheering along the LA marathoners.... but we also know that we can't go anywhere on marathon Sunday here.

In other words, will visiting on marathon weekend enhance or detract from our stay? Thank you for your honest opinions!

I've been there twice for the marathon just worked out that way and honestly I saw little difference other than some streets were closed off but if you are not driving it won't be a problem. Go enjoy NYC, great city lots to do. Also one time we booked late and still had no trouble finding a room at a nice hotel.

If you haven;t already got a hotel for that weekend you may well be out of luck. And if you do get a place prices will be premium.

In the city itself Marathon Sunday is the only issue - since more than a million people watch along the race course.

Manhattan above 59th street is a real issue - since the eastside crosstown streets are closed - and the entire area is mobbed with friends and family as well as the 30,000+ runners - making the upper east side museums problematic. But you shouldn;t have any special issues if you stay south of Cenral park that day.

If you want to do this I suggest you get a hotel TODAY.

One of the remarkable things about NYC is how three big events can be going on at once and you can still avoid them with very little trouble. Marathon Day is easily avoided (if you wish) by spending the day downtown in the village, Soho, Chelsea or Tribeca or on most of the West Side until the very end of the marathon ( and of course, not driving anywhere) and really - the marathon is pretty much done by 2:00 in the afternoon. People are still streaming into the park of course, but it's not a nightmare by then. Really, as long as you don't try to get anywhere by surface transport for a few hours, it's perfectly fine. And it is a great spectacle to watch along 1st Avenue or uptown or in Central Park.

Hey all, thank you so much for your responses!

We booked our room today, and I'm sure glad we did! It's on the UES, E. 93rd, right near Central Park.... so it will be a mess of marathoners, but the good news is, we can cheer them on quite easily, or just take the subway down to lower Manhattan / the westside that day.

I think it'll be a blast... thanks again for your opinions!

I've been to NYC many times marathon weekend but this is the first time I've ever ran the marathon (training is a beast).

That said, there will be fireworks in Central Park Saturday night at 7:30PM celebrating the marathon.

As others have suggested, try to avoid the Central Park area from about 3PM until.....the race does not start until 10:15AM so it finishes late right at Tavern On the Green. The cool thing is Central Park South and Central Park West are completely closed down to car traffic and are pedestrian only.

Avoid popular Midtown restaurants and all Italian Restaurants Saturday night! Everyone will be carb loading for Sunday's race!

Have a wonderful time and Happy Anniversary!

I can tell you if you and your husband are runners, you will definitely want to run this marathon next year!

For more information go to:

www.INGNYCMarathon.com

awwww! thanks GoTravel! what a nice post!

yeah.... we keep <i>saying</i> we're going to do a marathon someday.... some how, 5K's and 10K's are more &quot;our speed.&quot; but you're totally right... i bet we're going to get all excited and want to run it, now!

Very glad to hear that you already got a room. As long as you don't plan on driving, going underground will get you around just fine. I do disagree with most of the marathon stuff being over by 2:00 as I am still running it at that time..and there are 16,000 people behind me! Staten Island should be cleaned up by then, but not Manhattan. Just don't decide to &quot;cross&quot; a marathon street as it really screws up people's running rhythms (as runners, you would know!). I think you will actually get a lot more out of NYC during this weekend than others. Lots of people to chat with from all over the world. And avoid Central Park area the night before because marathoners get a free coupon to a pasta dinner that I've heard is a long wait...I've never gone as I prefer to dine in my own Italian restaurant to carb up the night before. Have a great bday &amp; anniversary.

mp, it is really only the elite runners that are done by 2PM.

Considering 32,000 people ran last year and they had a record number of entries this year, doubtful most will be finished by 2PM.

Finishing by 2PM is running a 3:45 marathon unheard of for the majority.

Yeah, Go, I guess that's right - I'm kind of remembering 20 years ago, when I lived on First Avenue and 80th Street, on the corner, in an apartment on a low floor. We'd have a marathon brunch and watch the runners come by around 1:00 (????) and then by 2:00, it would feel like the &quot;stragglers&quot;, the streets would be open again, and we could ignore the rest of the race! Now that I live downtown it's all barely noticable - sorry - I'm a swimmer, not a runner!

gotravel,

About 4500 people finished last year in 3:45 or less. are you running NY this year?...if so, have a great run.

Lynnejoel,

As runners, you should not be surprised to know that reservations for moderate price Italian restaurants (think carbo loading) may need to be made well in advance.

Hi Dick!

Yes, I am running this year and trust me, I'd love to run a sub 4:00 marathon.

Even with 4500 runners finishing by then you are still looking at almost 30,000 still running! Yikes! Thanks so much for the well wishes!

mp, shame on you for ignoring the race:-D (the starting time of 10:15 makes it a late finishing race)

gotravel,

Have you run other marathons? What time are you shooting for.

My wife ran NY 2 yrs ago and loved it. Let me know if you have any questions....she loves talking about running.

All the weekends from November through December are packed in NY. No different on Marathon weekend, except that certain roads are closed.

I would expect many more spectators on the streets throughout NYC during the marathon.

thanks everyone, this thread is inspiring to me! i love hearing the runners chat!

anyone who finishes a marathon in under 4 hours is a god to me. wow. yes, the NYC marathon is a very late start, so i imagine there will be thousands still finishing up well into the early evening. even the LA marathon with its early start (6? 7am?) has tons of people finishing well into 5, 6, 7pm downtown.... we live at mile 20, so things pretty much clear up by 4pm here.

can't WAIT to see the fireworks saturday night and cheer on the runners. we certainly won't cross in front of them- it DOES screw up your running rythym- and we probably won't be having italian food while we're there anyways :)