go into the race hyper hydrated

We all know how important it is to reach for sports drink mid race but it’s just as important to go into the race hyper hydrated. That means that hydrating starts 2 days before the race. Both two days before the race, the day before and the morning of the NYC Marathon, you’re reaching for a bottle of sports drink to ensure that you’re well hydrated when the gun goes off. Practice your pre-race hydration the day before and the morning of your long runs!

Stay off your feet the day before the marathon

You know this. I know this. And I also know that you need the reminder. (I once walked the entire length of Manhattan before the NYC marathon because I was nervous.) If you do a shakeout run, run and then get back in bed. Go watch movies. Do nothing. Stay off your feet the day before the race.

get to bed early

You may not get a ton of sleep the day before the marathon. That’s ok. The night before the race, get in bed early and rest those eyes. The week of the marathon, try to prioritize sleep and rest. Take naps if you can. Get your rest just in case you don’t sleep well the night before the NYC marathon. You’re going to lose an hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings. Don’t overthink it. Don’t worry about it. You’re going to do great. (Just remember to set a backup alarm.)

Wear Your Layers FOR YOUR PILGRIMAGE TO The Starting Line

Getting to Staten Island takes A VERY LONG TIME. LAYER UP GANG. Pre-race, you want to make sure that you wear your layers to the starting line EVEN if you think it’s comfortable out. Your body uses energy to maintain its core temperature which means that if you aren’t wearing layers, you’ll waste energy trying to maintain your body’s optimal body temperature. Think about swimmers and divers. Pre-race, they’re in a jacuzzi or wearing giant parkas. Why? THERMOREGULATION. We want to keep your core temperature where it needs to be so that you don’t waste ANY energy shivering to warm up.

So grab some sweaters, hoodies, beanies, or coats or head to a local thrift store to grab some throw away clothes. (Throw away clothes are clothes you’ll leave behind at the starting line so don’t spend much money on your throw away clothing.) Even blankets or space blankets will do!

The Chicago Marathon (and most races) donate the throwaway clothes left at the starting line so you can ditch your clothing knowing it’s going to a good cause.

What to bring to the start village.

What should you bring to the start village of the NYC Marathon?

• Something to sit on.

• Something to do.

• Your sports drink.

• Something to eat. Breakfast is tough because the last 2 waves will start hours after you leave for the race. Bring something like a sandwich, a bagel, banana, rice, mashed potatoes, or food you know sits well with you and enjoy it on your way over to the starting village.

• Toilet paper. (ALWAYS bring a roll of toilet paper with you. Will you need it? Maybe not but if you do, you’ll be grateful you have it.)

• Wet wipes for those porta-potties.

• A portable charger if you think you’ll be on your phone a lot. (You can always hand it off to a friend/family member in Manhattan.)

give yourself time to go to the bathroom 1-2 times pre-race

Make sure you give yourself PLENTY of time to go to the restroom before you head into your corrals. There will be bathrooms in the holding areas before you head into your corrals to walk to the start line. USE THEM.*If you like to go potty 2-3 times before the race starts, shoot to get there 90+ minutes before your corral closes.

Which colors go over the top of the verrazano bridge?

You are going to be split into three different colors: Pink, Blue, and Orange. (In years past it was Green, Blue, and Orange.)

Start Timeline

Corral Timeline from year’s past:

CORRAL TIMELINE

WAVE 1

Corrals Open 8:10 AM

Corrals Close 8:45 AM

Wave Start 9:10 AM

WAVE 2

Corrals Open 9:05 AM

Corrals Close 9:25 AM

Wave Start 9:45 AM

WAVE 3

Corrals Open 9:45 AM

Corrals Close 10:00 AM

Wave Start 10:20 AM

WAVE 4

Corrals Open 10:25 AM

Corrals Close 10:40 AM

Wave Start 10:55 AM

WAVE 5

Corrals Open 11:00 AM

Corrals Close 11:15 AM

Wave Start 11:30 AM

What time does the NYC Marathon Start?

8:00 a.m. Professional Wheelchair Division

8:22 a.m. Handcycle Category and Select Athletes with Disabilities

8:40 a.m. Professional Women’s Open Division

9:05 a.m. Professional Men’s Open Division

9:10 a.m. Wave 1

9:45 a.m. Wave 2

10:20 a.m. Wave 3

10:55 a.m. Wave 4

11:30 a.m. Wave 5 

Which colors go over the Verrazano Bridge?

There are three different corral areas in the start village (pink, orange, blue). Your start color, wave, and corral will appear both in your race packet (you’ll get this emailed a few weeks before the race) and on your race number (bib). Wave and corral assignments cannot formally be changed but you can move backwards to start with a friend. (For example, you’re in wave 3 and they’re in wave 4. You can start together if you both go to wave 4.)

Now, here’s the kicker, not everyone goes on top of the Verrazano Bridge. There are two levels. In 2023, Pink was on the bottom and Blue and Orange were on top. In years past, green was on the bottom.

People will tell you that there's no difference but the bottom kind of sucks. NOW, it’s 2 miles of 26.2 and the rest of the race is incredible so though it sucks to be on the bottom, try not to lose sleep over it.

Put your name on your shirt

If you are someone who loves encouragement, the one true performance enhancing drug is having complete strangers look you in the eyes while they cheer for you, by name, at the top of their lungs. Put your name on your shirt or sports bra. EVEN if you’re having the shittiest race possible, it still feels good to have people tell you you’re amazing.
PRO TIP: You may feel obligated to thank people. It’s ok to just smile and soak it in. Some people find putting their name on their shirt overwhelming. It’s ok to not put your name on your shirt.

START SLOW

There is no such thing as banking time in a marathon and the good news about the NYC Marathon is you start on a hill. EVEN STILL, START SLOW. RUN PAINFULLY SLOW when the gun goes off. Make it a point that you’ll hold yourself back when you start come race day.

The first 10K should be relatively comfortable.

pack the best checked back

If you can, don’t check a bag and opt for the blue poncho. If you have friends or family coming to cheer for you, give them a hoodie, beanie, something easy to eat, sweatpants, and comfy shoes to change into when you reunite with them.

If you do check a bag, here’s what to put in it- A sweater, a beanie, a hand towel to wipe your nasty self off, tums, Pepto Bismol, cash, sweatpants, and some comfortable shoes in your bag.

Should you Manually Lap Your Watch?

If your watch is set to automatic lap, you’ll need to go in and set it to manual. That means that every time you hit a mile marker, you’ll hit the lap button to see your split. You won’t have GPS issues in NYC so unless you’re chasing a specific outcome goal or want to run specific paces, don’t manually lap your watch.

get familiar with the course and run the tangents

In any marathon, you’re going to run further than 26.2 miles. WHY? Because roads are wide and we rarely run the tangent. The race paints a line on the road indicating the tangent but sometimes it isn’t always possible to stay on it. The best way to ensure you run as close to 26.2 as possible is to get to know the course and try to stay on the tangent. So get familiar with the course and try your best to huge the corners. (While you’re looking at the course, note where bathrooms, aid stations, and hydration stations are.)

The first 4-miles of the NYC marathon will put you in different areas based on the color of your starting corral. You won’t reunite until you get to 4th Avenue. Make sure you communicate with friends which side of the street you will be on so that you don’t have to cross 4th ave. That being said…

Know where your friends, family, and cheer squad will be

When coordinating with your cheer squad, know EXACTLY where and which side of the street they’ll be ESPECIALLY if they have hydration/fueling you need to grab from them. Remember, there’s A LOT going on and it’s a lot harder for them to find you than it is for you to find them. Make sure that you all know what you’re wearing and if they have any signs you can look for to help you find them. Some spectators grab balloons to make themselves easy to spot.

Wearing Bluetooth headphones? Have a backup should they die.

Running with AirPods or Bluetooth headphones? Worried they won’t stay charged? When I ran Chicago in 2019, I had both Airpods on me. One in my ear, and one in my back pocket ready to swap out when the one in my ear dies. BUT I didn’t have the spare Airpod in the case so with 5K to go, when my Airpod died, I reached in my back pocket to swap it out. It was then that I realized they both were dead. SO, learn from my mistake! If you run with Bluetooth, have a Plan B and be ready to have them unexpectedly die.

Can you wear headphones during the NYC Marathon? Though it’s advised against it, you can listen to music during the NYC Marathon. I always advise my athletes who want to run with music to run with one earbud in because the cheers from the spectators are energizing as hell! (AND because of safety- You should always be aware of the runners around you.) Shockz is another great option.

Bring your fully charged Airpod case and both Airpods with you during the race but wear one of them at a time. Then, when one Airpod dies, put it back in the case and grab a charged Airpod from the case. Then, should that one die, swap it back out for the charged Airpod you started the race with. YOU ARE WELCOME.

Enjoy the crowds but save your energy

The NYC Marathon will be insane the entire way. The crowds are OUT and they’re LOUD. Enjoy the energy, take it in, but don’t give too much away. My old Coach Rebekah Stowe told me to pretend I’m an energy dementor. Suck all the energy in.

Be an energy dementor. You’ll need that energy after mile 18.

Know what you’re moving towards.

Visualization is going to be key in the second half of the race. When everything hurts and you want to crawl into a ball and get run over by a car, REMEMBER what you’re moving towards. SEE IT. Visualize it. RUN TOWARDS IT.

it is going to hurt like hell so embrace the hurt and smile.

You are going to be in another world of pain.

Prep for it. Then, embrace it. Smiling changes our brain chemistry and makes us feel good. You probably won’t even notice because you’re gonna be hurting so much but do it anyway.

SMILE.

The NYC marathon is a hilly race.

From bridges to sneaky elevation climbs, the NYC marathon is a very hilly and technical race. Includ those hills in your training.

You are going to finish on a hill.

Once the Finish Line is in sight, you’re going to climb. Embrace the hill. Smile. One foot in front of the other. You’re almost done.

Find three ways to win the day and make one of them sprinting to the finish.

This tip comes to us from my former coach Rebekah Stowe. Before I ran a marathon a few years back, she asked me to define 3 ways to win the day for myself.

One in the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end.

I love this advice because it asked me to focus on the process. Now, I encourage all of my athletes to do the same.

One of my favorite ways to win the day is to finish strong regardless of how I’m feeling or the day I’m having. Maybe that’s a sprint. Maybe that’s a feeling. But regardless of what happens out there, make it a goal to finish giving it everything you have.

you can’t sit down when you finish.

Once you cross that finish line, you will want to sit down. They won’t let you sit down unless you need to go to the med tent. So get ready to slowly shuffle to find your people. It’s a long walk.

This may be the hardest part of the marathon. You have this. One foot in front of the other. And hey! At least you aren’t being timed anymore!

eat.

Immediately after you finish, drink everything in your finisher’s bag if you can. Eat the pretzels. Drink the sports drink.

And the second you can get a real meal, EAT FOOD. Eat real food. It will help your body recover from that marathon.

make reservations for dinner.

NYC is POPPING at dinner time with all the marathoners ready to eat their body weight in food. Plan ahead. Make reservations. I love ippudo for Ramen as my go-to NYC Marathon meal but they don’t allow reservations. We used to have someone run to the restaurant when I was nearing the Finish and put our name in. THen, by the time I shuffled the 1.5 miles to Ippudo, our table was ready.

foam roll and if you can, get in some air pants.

There are plenty of events nowadays you can attend to jumpstart your recovery. If you can find some air pants (also known as compression sleeves), use them. Try to foam roll and try to get a walk-in that night.

take time off.

As a coach, I make all my athletes take at least one complete week off of running. If you can, take two complete weeks off from running. (I know that is asking a lot because you’re all a bunch of kooks who can’t not run.)

There’s no rule for how long you need to wait. Try to listen to your body. But at least one week. Two if you can manage it.