NYC marathon 2026 start time: What time does New York City marathon start? Check live streaming details, TV telecast, new route map, key athletes, runners

New York Marathon 2026 is here as the world's biggest running event is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The iconic NYC Marathon 2026 is set to witness a massive participation of 60,000 runners.

There will be runners from more than 140 countries competing Sunday, including defending champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya. He won in thrilling fashion last year, edging Alexander Mutiso by three-hundredths of a second. Two-time champion Hellen Obiri, who is also Kenyan, returns to defend her title a year after she broke the women’s course record in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 51 seconds. That was nearly three minutes faster then the previous best set in 2003 by Margaret Okayo.

New York Marathon 2026 Live Streaming


New York Marathon 2026 will be live telecast on ESPN 2, ESPN Unlimited, ABC7/WABC-TV on November 1, 2026. ESPN Unlimited will start pre-race coverage from 7 am (ET) to 8 am (ET) and 11.30 am (ET) to 1 pm (ET). ESPN2 will have NYC marathon coverage from 8 am (ET) to 11.30 am (ET).

ABC7/WABC-TV will start pre-race coverage starting from 7 am (ET) till 1 pm (ET). ABC7NY.com is set to stream New York Marathon race from 10.30 am (ET) to 6 pm (ET).

NYC Marathon 2026 Route

New York Marathon covers 26.2 mile canvassing through New York City's five iconic boroughs -- Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Staten Island. For the first time in 15 years there will be a minor change in the course. The runners will take a slightly different route in Mile 20 when the race is in the Bronx. The move was made to reduce the number of turns in the borough from seven to five and will also ease some of the street closures in the area.

New York Marathon History

The New York City Marathon began in 1970 and the first six years were run inside Central Park doing loops. Fifty years ago, the New York City Marathon ran through all five boroughs of the city for the first time. There were just over 2,000 competitors in that seventh running of the race, including only 88 women. Now about 60,000 runners will step up to the starting line Sunday with nearly half of them women.

New York Marathon 2026 Key Runners, Athletes

Defending champions Benson Kipruto and Hellen Obiri of Kenya will chase history and back-to-back titles in Sunday's New York Marathon. Kipruto won the closest New York men's marathon in history last year, edging compatriot Alex Mutiso by three-hundredths of a second after both crossed the finish line in 2:08:09.

The 36-year-old Kenyan will try to become the first back-to-back New York men's winner since Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya in 2013. Kipruto also won the 2021 Boston Marathon, 2022 Chicago Marathon and 2024 Tokyo Marathon titles and took third at the 2024 Paris Olympic marathon and this year's Boston Marathon.

Ethiopia's Deresa Geleta, sixth in this year's London Marathon, makes his North America marathon debut on the streets of New York. There is also excitement about the marathon debut of 31-year-old Swede Andreas Almgren, who set a European half-marathon record of 58:06 last month at Copenhagen.

Obiri, 36, is well-acquainted with the distance. She won the Boston Marathon in 2023 and 2024 and New York Marathon in 2023 and 2025 as well as taking a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon.

Obiri took her second New York City Half-Marathon title earlier this year, winning in a course-record 1:06:33. She was this year's London Marathon runner-up, finishing 12 seconds off the women-only marathon world record of 2:15:41 set by Ethiopian Tigst Assefa.

Obiri will try to become only the fourth woman to win a third career New York title after Norway's Grete Waitz, Kenya's Mary Keitany and Britain's Paula Radcliffe. Obiri seeks her third crown in four years after setting a course record of 2:19:51 last year. She would be the first New York repeat women's winner since Keitany won from 2014-16.