NYC Marathon 2017: How To Watch, Traffic Closures, Start Times

NEW YORK, NY — Tens of thousands of runners will make the city their race course Sunday, Nov. 5, for the TCS New York City Marathon. This year's marathon will mark the forty-seventh running of the race, which used to occur solely in Central Park but now spans all five city boroughs.

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Whether you're running the 26.2 miles on Sunday, watching from home or trying to avoid the race entirely, here's everything you need to know about the New York City Marathon in 2017.

Start times:

Race day officially begins at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday with the start of the professional wheelchair division, according to New York Road Runners, the group that organizes the marathon and several other road races in the city. Between 8:30 and 11 a.m. waves of runners will begin their 26.2 mile journey, leaving the starting gate with runners of similar skill levels.

Here's a detailed schedule of the race times:

• Professional wheelchair — 8:30 a.m.
• Handcycle — 8:52 a.m.
• Foot Locker Five-Borough Challenge — 8:55 a.m.
• Professional women — 9:20 a.m.
• Wave 1 (including professional men) — 9:50 a.m.
• Wave 2 — 10:15 a.m.
• Wave 3 — 10:40 a.m
• Wave 4 — 11 a.m.

Watching from home:

Most people tuning into the marathon this year will be watching from home. In the United States the Marathon will be broadcast on ABC7 and ESPN2, but the race will also be shown in more than 175 different countries, according to New York Road Runners.

The broadcast will begin at 9 a.m. and continue through 12:30 p.m., with extended coverage until 2 p.m. on ABC 7 in the New York City area, New York Road Runners announced. The 47th marathon can also be live streamed by using the ABC app in New York and the ESPN App nationally from 9 a.m.–2 p.m., according to the New York Road Runners.

The racecourse:

The New York City Marathon has existed since 1970, and over the years the format of the race has changed. The first marathon took place entirely in Central Park, but now runners pass through all five of New York City's boroughs.

The folks organizing the Marathon now have the course down to a science. Runners begin the race in Staten Island and quickly cross into Brooklyn by way of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The race includes long straight-away stretches on Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue and Manhattan's First and Fifth avenues before runners eventually finish in Central Park.

Check out the course map below:

Road closures:

The New York City Marathon is one of the best days of the year for most city-dwellers. Except for avid motorists, who will run into many traffic closures all throughout the city.

Here's a list of which roads will be closed, provided by the city Department of Transportation:

Staten Island route

• Richmond Terrace between Jersey Street and Bay Street
• Jersey Street between Richmond Terrace and Victory Boulevard
• Victory Boulevard between Jersey Street and Bay Street
• Bay Street between Richmond Terrace and School Road
• Fingerboard Road between Bay Street and Tompkins Avenue
• Tompkins Avenue between Fingerboard Road and School Road
• School Road between Bay Street and Staten Island Expressway
• Lily Pond Avenue between Staten Island Expressway and McClean Avenue
• McClean Avenue between Lily Pond Avenue and New York Avenue

Brooklyn Route

• Dahlgren Place between Verrazano Bridge and 92nd Street (Northbound)
• 92nd Street between Dahlgren Place and 4th Avenue
• 4th Avenue between 92nd Street and Flatbush Avenue
• Flatbush Avenue between 4th Avenue and Lafayette Avenue
• Lafayette Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Bedford Avenue
• Brooklyn Queens Expressway (Southbound) between Verrazano Bridge and 79th Street
• 7th Avenue between 79th Street and 75th Street/Bay Ridge Parkway
• 7th Avenue between 74th Street and 75th Street/Bay Ridge Parkway
• 74th Street between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue
• 6th Avenue between 74th and 75th Street/Bay Ridge Parkway
• Bay Ridge Parkway between 7th Avenue and 4th Avenue
• Fort Hamilton Parkway between 92nd Street and 94th Street
• 94th Street between Fort Hamilton Parkway and 4th Avenue
• Bedford Avenue between Lafayette Avenue and Nassau Avenue
• Nassau Avenue between Bedford Avenue/Lorimer Street and Manhattan Avenue
• Manhattan Avenue between Nassau Avenue and Greenpoint Avenue
• Greenpoint Avenue between Manhattan Avenue and McGuiness Boulevard
• McGuiness Boulevard between Greenpoint Avenue and 48th Avenue (Southbound)
• Pulaski Bridge (Southbound)

Queens Route

• Pulaski Bridge (Southbound)
• 48th Avenue between 11th Street and Vernon Boulevard
• Vernon Boulevard between 48th Avenue and 10th Street
• 10th Street between Vernon Boulevard and 44th Drive
• 44th Drive between 10th Street and Hunter Street
• Hunter Street between 44th Drive and Crescent Street
• Crescent Street between Hunter Street and Queens Plaza South
• Queens Plaza South between Crescent Street and 23rd Street
• Queens Plaza North between Crescent Street and 23rd Street
• 23rd Street between Queens Plaza South and Queens Plaza North
• Queensboro Bridge (Eastbound)

Manhattan Route

• Queensboro Bridge (Vehicle Entrance Ramp Eastbound)
• East 59th Street between Queensboro Bridge and 1st Avenue
• 1st Avenue between East 59th Street and Willis Avenue Bridge
• 60th Street between 1st Avenue and 2nd Avenue
• Madison Avenue Bridge

Bronx Route

• Willis Avenue Bridge/Willis Avenue
• East 135th Street between Willis Avenue and Alexander Avenue
• Alexander Avenue between East 135th Street and East 138th Street
• East 138th Street between Alexander Avenue and Morris Avenue
• Morris Avenue between East 138th Street and East 140th Street
• East 140th Street between Morris Avenue and Rider Avenue
• Rider Avenue between East 140th Street and East 138th Street
• East 138th Street between Rider Avenue and Madison Avenue Bridge

Manhattan Route (Continued)

• 5th Avenue between 138th Street and 124th Street
• 124th Street between Madison Avenue and Mount Morris Park West
• Mount Morris Park West between 124th Street between 120th Street
• 120th Street between Mount Morris Park West and 5th Avenue
• 5th Avenue between 120th Street and 90th Street
• 90th Street between 5th Avenue and East Drive (Central Park Southbound)
• East Drive between 90th Street and Grand Army Plaza
• Grand Army Plaza between East Drive and Central Park South
• 59th Street between 5th Avenue and Columbus Circle/8th Avenue/Central Park West
• Central Park Driveway/8th Avenue Approach to West Drive
• West Drive between 8th Avenue Approach and 96th Street Approach to West Drive
• 96th Street Approach to West Drive
• 67th Street Approach to West Drive

How to track a runner:

It's tricky to keep track of a specific runner in a field of tens of thousands of people. The nice thing about following the race in the smartphone era is that the organizers now provide a free app you can download which provides real-time updates on all the runners taking part. In fact, you can track up to 20 runners at once if you know a lot of people taking part.

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