NYC Marathon Nov. 1: First Bronx Route Change in 15 Years

The TCS New York City Marathon takes place Sunday, Nov. 1, starting at the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island and finishing in Central Park. This year the course changes for the first time in about 15 years. The last change was in 2011.

The adjustment is confined to a Mott Haven stretch of the Bronx between miles 20 and 21, roughly kilometers 32 to 34. Until now, runners came up Morris Avenue, turned left onto East 140th Street and left again onto Rider Avenue, circling a block before heading to the Madison Avenue Bridge. That section had seven turns. According to 6sqft, the loop closed off a block holding a Western Beef supermarket and a laundromat. It also cut off residents of the Patterson Houses, nearly 1,800 units across Morris Avenue, from reaching them on a Sunday morning.

The new line follows East 135th Street after the bridge and turns right onto Alexander Avenue. Runners then turn left onto East 141st Street and join Third Avenue. A right onto East 138th Street leads to the Madison Avenue Bridge and back into Manhattan. The turn count falls from seven to five.

New York Road Runners race director Ted Metellus, who grew up in the Bronx, said restoring access to local businesses was the main reason. He called those parts of the borough food deserts. He said the area has become more residential in recent years and that Sunday is when people tend to run errands. NYRR worked with the city and the community ahead of this year's required course recertification. The change was one of two options put to the city and the NYPD, which approved it.

The race also marks 50 years of the five-borough format. From 1970 to 1975 it was just over four loops of Central Park. The route through Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan began in 1976, and all five boroughs remain on the course.

Related events: the Abbott Dash 5K is on Oct. 31, the day before the marathon. More than 59,000 runners finished the 2025 marathon. NYRR is giving away 100 entries to the 2027 race in a single sweepstakes for the first time. New York Therapy Animals' dogs return to the start village.

(Details are drawn from points that agree across reports by 6sqft, Marathons.com, Time Out New York.)