The New York City Marathon will take a slightly different path through the Bronx this year — the first change to the course in 15 years, according to New York Road Runners.
The shift is meant to “minimize the race’s impacts on the Bronx, as the neighborhood has evolved over the past 50 years,” according to the group’s website.
Liv Ren, a New York Road Runners spokesperson, said in an email that the new route would help improve access to local businesses in the area. The changes, she said, came after a lengthy assessment of the Bronx section of the course in 2024, including an examination of the race’s impact on local resources and consulting “various stakeholders.” Eventually the group landed on two concepts and presented them to the city for consideration, resulting in the update announced Tuesday.
Large-scale events — and the New York City Marathon is among the city’s largest — frequently mean road closures and other inconveniences for neighbors and local businesses.
Much of the South Bronx route will be familiar for those who have done it before. Runners will still enter the borough by crossing over the Willis Avenue Bridge. They’ll then make a left onto East 135th Street and then a right on Alexander Avenue, as they always have. However, rather than heading left on East 138th Street, they’ll continue up Alexander Avenue and take a left on East 141st Street. From there they’ll take a left on Third Avenue and a right onto East 138th Street, where they’ll continue into Manhattan via the Madison Avenue Bridge.
New York Road Runners is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course this year. It debuted on Oct. 24, 1976.
This year’s race is set for Sunday, Nov. 1. It will kick off on Staten Island at 8 a.m.
