Marathon Compass
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TCS NYC Marathon

New York, NY · Sun, November 1, 2026 · 08:00

Marathon
World Major
BQ course
lottery

Prime BQ course · forgiving course · very high friction

Best forPrime BQ course8.7/10

Boston-qualifying course; see the BQ Finder for the effective application effect.

Course difficultyForgiving8.7/10

Mostly flat, mild mornings.

Planning frictionVery high friction3.7/10

Lottery (~4% accepted) · ~$1,525 all-in from South Florida.

Data confidenceVerified

Date verified at the official source; course and climate data on file.

Legacy Green Score 7.4/10 · method

Difficulty profile

Race-day climate (10-year history)

At the start line and start hour · Open-Meteo historical archive

Temp
51°F
Dew point
43°F
Precip
0 mm
Elev gain
250 m
Field
55,000

Can you qualify here?

Projected at race day for M 18-34, from your 4:00:00 marathon + training runway.

Training plans for this race

Cost & registration

Entry
$315
Travel cost (est.)
~$1210
All-in
~$1525

Registration / lottery closes Sun, February 15, 2026

Register →

World Major. 5 boroughs, bridges. Lottery ~4% accept. Time qualifier ~2 min faster than BQ.

About the TCS NYC Marathon

The TCS NYC Marathon is a marathon held in New York, NY on November 1, 2026. With a Green Score of 7.4/10, it's a moderate race. The course is mostly flat (~31 ft of gain per mile). Typical race-day weather is a mild 51°F, dew point ~43°F (10-year normal). It is a Boston-qualifying course. Entry is around $315. Marathon Compass rates every race across terrain, climate, logistics, travel, and field size so you can find the one that fits you — and build a training plan tuned to your fitness.

Race-morning weather, quantified

Typical start-line conditions (10-year history (Open-Meteo)): 51°F with a dew point of 43°F. On the temperature-plus-dew-point scale used by our pace engine, that's 94 — a 0% pace penalty. Heat should not be a factor at the TCS NYC Marathon in a typical year — race your fitness.

100
130
150
94 — typical race morning at the TCS NYC Marathon on the temp+dew scale (100 = no penalty · 130 = +2% · 150 = +4.5%)

Method: temp°F + dew°F lookup from the heat-adjustment chart our training plans use daily. Sign in to see this adjustment applied to your own projected finish.

What the TCS NYC Marathon really costs

First marathons cost more than the entry fee — budget the whole weekend before you commit.

Entry fee
$315
Travel + 3 hotel nightsestimated from South Florida; your cost varies by home airport
~$1210
All-in estimate
~$1525

Registration for the TCS NYC Marathon

Boston qualification status

Penalty-free Boston qualifierPenalty-free

Net descent of ~0 ft is well under the BAA's 1,500 ft adjustment threshold. Your clock time is your application time.

Computed under the BAA's downhill rules for the 2027 qualifying window (announced Sept 2025; verified July 2026): net start-to-finish descent of 1,500–2,999 ft adds 5:00, 3,000–5,999 ft adds 10:00, and 6,000 ft or more is not accepted. Net descent here is derived from our course elevation data — the BAA's official course designation controls. Sign in to see your projected finish graded against your age-group standard and the realistic acceptance cutoff.

See how every BQ course ranks in the BQ Course Finder →

Entry strategy

Entry is by lottery with roughly 4% historical acceptance — plan like you might not get in.

  1. Lottery entry deadlineFebruary 15, 2026
  2. Registration closesFebruary 15, 2026
  3. Lottery results announcedMarch 4, 2026
  4. Race dayNovember 1, 2026

Plan B: if entry doesn't go your way, Walt Disney World Marathon (January 10, 2027, open entry, Green Score 9.3) or Ameris Bank Jacksonville Marathon (December 12, 2026, open entry, Green Score 9.2) keeps the same training block on schedule.

Where to stay

Point-to-point course: stay near the finish, not the start — you'll be glad at mile 26, and shuttles run to the start. Hotels near the TCS NYC Marathon start selling out 8–10 months ahead with race-weekend minimum stays — book refundable, book early. The links below are pre-filled for race weekend (October 30, 2026 November 2, 2026).

Plan the day itself

When to wake up, when the corral closes, and the exact clock time TCS NYC Marathon spectators should be at each split for your goal pace — plus a link you can send to whoever's coming to watch.

Build your race-day timeline →

Compare head-to-head

Race and date verified against the official race source on 2026-07-17. Race-morning climate from Open-Meteo — 10-year history at the start line and start hour. Race fees, dates, and rules change often — report incorrect information.