2026 NYC Marathon runners take to the streets as huge crowds cheer them on

Tens of thousands of runners from across the world are taking part in the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon Sunday morning, an iconic race that will take them through all five boroughs, beginning in Staten Island and finishing up in Manhattan's Central Park. 

The 26.2-mile course is lined with crowds of people who flock annually to the marathon to watch loved ones and strangers alike compete in the event. 

Participants run the race in waves. On Sunday, the men's and women's professional wheelchair division kicked off the marathon from its starting point in Fort Wadsworth at around 8 a.m. ET, followed by hancyclists and select athletes with disabilities, and then the professional women's and men's open divisions. After that, five separate waves of runners start the marathon at different times between around 9 and 11:30 a.m.

Kenyan long-distance stars Hellen Obiri and Benson Kipruto returned to the New York City Marathon this year as its defending champions, after Obiri won the women's open division and Kipruto won the men's division in 2025. Swedish runner Andreas Almgren, the World Half Marathon champion, joined them in his highly anticipated full marathon debut, as did Conner Mantz, the American marathon record-holder, who earned that title after completing the Chicago Marathon in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 43 seconds last year.

NYC Marathon live tracker and results

Spectators can get real-time updates on runners' progress with the New York Road Runners' interactive tracker here. 

Once the race is over, you'll find the winners and full results posted here.

Map shows the 2026 NYC Marathon route

The marathon route goes through all five boroughs, starting in Staten Island, across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn, then Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx before looping back down through Manhattan to the finish line in Central Park. Many streets and bridges will be closed to traffic on race day.