NYC Marathon Start Time Today: 2026 Waves, Course and How to Watch on Sunday 1 November
The NYC Marathon start time is the question driving searches on Sunday 1 November 2026, as the TCS New York City Marathon returns to New York for its 55th edition. The 26.2-mile race starts on Staten Island and finishes in Central Park in Manhattan, crossing all five boroughs along the way.
This year’s edition also marks 50 years since the race first took on the five-borough course in 1976. Close to 60,000 runners are expected, according to race guides reporting New York Road Runners figures. The first professional races leave in the morning, followed by five mass waves, and the clocks falling back on race morning make the timetable easy to misread.
NYC Marathon Start Time: The Full Wave-by-Wave Schedule
All times below are Eastern Time, after daylight saving time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday 1 November. That change means New York moves to Eastern Standard Time, five hours behind the United Kingdom and ten hours behind Pakistan.
| Start | New York (ET) | London (GMT) | Karachi (PKT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional men’s wheelchair | 8:00 a.m. | 1:00 p.m. | 6:00 p.m. |
| Professional women’s wheelchair | 8:02 a.m. | 1:02 p.m. | 6:02 p.m. |
| Handcycles and select athletes with disabilities | 8:22 a.m. | 1:22 p.m. | 6:22 p.m. |
| Professional women | 8:35 a.m. | 1:35 p.m. | 6:35 p.m. |
| Professional men | 9:05 a.m. | 2:05 p.m. | 7:05 p.m. |
| Wave 1 | 9:10 a.m. | 2:10 p.m. | 7:10 p.m. |
| Wave 2 | 9:45 a.m. | 2:45 p.m. | 7:45 p.m. |
| Wave 3 | 10:20 a.m. | 3:20 p.m. | 8:20 p.m. |
| Wave 4 | 10:55 a.m. | 3:55 p.m. | 8:55 p.m. |
| Wave 5 | 11:30 a.m. | 4:30 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. |
Runners start in assigned waves and cannot move to an earlier one, while corrals close shortly before each wave leaves. New York Road Runners notes that start times are subject to change, so runners should check their assigned wave and corral on race morning.
Why the Clock Change Matters More Than Usual This Year
Daylight saving time ends in the United States on the same morning as the race, at 2:00 a.m., when clocks fall back one hour. Runners gain an hour of sleep, but any watch, alarm or travel plan set by hand needs checking against the new time.
Phones normally update on their own, yet ferry and bus times, corral closing times and broadcast start times all run on the new Eastern Standard Time. The trap is arriving an hour early or late by working from the old time, not by missing the race itself.
Five Boroughs, One Finish in Central Park
The course begins at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island and crosses the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. From there it runs through Queens and the Bronx before heading down through Manhattan to the finish in Central Park.
The route covers 26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometres, and the course is supported at a 16-minute-per-mile pace from the final wave’s 11:30 a.m. start. That structure shapes the day for spectators too, because different boroughs fill at very different times as the waves spread out.
How to Watch the 2026 Race on Television and Streaming
In the United States, ESPN2 carries the race nationally from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET, with streaming through the ESPN app. In New York, WABC-TV Channel 7 airs pre-race coverage from 7:00 a.m. and the race from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., also through its digital platforms.
International partners reported by race guides include Eurosport in Europe and India, TSN in Canada, Fox Sports in Australia, TV Asahi in Japan and SuperSport in sub-Saharan Africa. Viewers outside those markets should check their local listings, because broadcast windows vary by territory.
Road Closures and the Spectator Picture in New York
Streets along the course close in stages through race morning, and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge upper level is closed in both directions from late Saturday night until Sunday afternoon. Spectators heading to a viewing point should allow extra time and check the city’s closure notice before travelling.
The scale of the event puts it among the weekend’s biggest sporting stories, alongside Chelsea’s 2-0 Premier League win over Manchester United and USC’s upset of Ohio State in college football. Those results show how crowded the sporting calendar is this weekend, yet the marathon’s five-borough footprint makes its disruption wider than a single stadium event.
What the 50th Five-Borough Anniversary Adds to Race Day
The five-borough course began in 1976, and this edition celebrates that anniversary rather than the race’s first running. Race guides describe the anniversary as the central theme of the 2026 event, with the course itself unchanged in its basic shape.
For runners, the anniversary changes little about pacing or preparation. For the city, it underlines how far the race has grown from a Central Park event into a course that touches every borough in a single morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does the NYC Marathon start today?
The professional wheelchair races start at 8:00 a.m. ET, the professional women at 8:35 a.m. ET and the professional men at 9:05 a.m. ET. The five mass waves follow from 9:10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET.
What date is the 2026 New York City Marathon?
The race takes place on Sunday 1 November 2026, the same morning that daylight saving time ends in the United States.
Where does the NYC Marathon start and finish?
It starts at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island and finishes in Central Park in Manhattan, after crossing all five boroughs.
How long is the NYC Marathon course?
The course is 26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometres, from Staten Island to Central Park.
How can I watch the NYC Marathon in 2026?
In the United States, ESPN2 carries the race from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET, while WABC-TV covers it in New York from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET. International viewers should check local listings for their territory’s partner broadcaster.
Myth-busting note: The marathon does not start at a single time for everyone. The staggered professional starts and five waves mean the “start time” depends on a runner’s division or wave, so a single headline time will always be incomplete.
The full wave schedule and course details are set out in Bleacher Report’s 2026 New York Marathon guide, while Marathon Handbook’s complete 2026 guide carries the same start times and the 50th anniversary context.
