New York, November
TCS New York City Marathon Pacing Plan
The only major that crosses all five NYC boroughs: it starts on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge's upper deck from Staten Island, runs through Brooklyn's crowds for the first half, crosses the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan around mile 16 — the course's quietest, steepest stretch, since spectators aren't allowed on the bridge — then hits the roar of First Avenue, a brief loop into the Bronx, and a long finish down Fifth Avenue into Central Park.
Distance
26.5 mi
Elevation gain
+75m / -99m
Typically run in
November
Typical race-day weather
43°F, 10 mph
Weather is a 10-year seasonal average for this course's location and month, not a forecast for a specific date — see FAQ.
Elevation profile
Sample strategy — 3:45:00 goal
A real, AI-generated excerpt of what Splitsmith produces for this exact course — not a hand-written example. Upload your own goal and recent results to get the full plan.
KM 0-3 — You start on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge with a short punch of climbing at km1 (+0.7%, 5:25/km) before the deck tips down into Brooklyn — km2 and km3 drop to 4:49 and 4:46/km with a tailwind pushing you along. That's 9-10% faster than your average pace for the day; let the bridge and the wind do the work, but don't add your own effort on top of it. You cross 3K at 15:00 — check that number and confirm you haven't drifted under 4:40/km chasing the downhill.
KM 4-13 — Brooklyn settles into a headwind-then-crosswind grind, mostly flat with paces sitting between 5:04 and 5:18/km. Km13 is the first real warning sign — a small +0.7% rise pushes you to 5:26/km, +2.8% slower than your average. You hit 13K at 1:07:15; if your watch reads meaningfully slower than that, you're already leaking time you won't get back in the second half.
KM 14-23 — This stretch is where the race quietly tests your discipline — pace bounces between 5:05 and 5:30/km as wind shifts from tailwind to headwind to crosswind and grades roll gently. Km17's 5:30/km is a headwind-and-grade combo, not a bonk; don't panic and don't chase it back on km18. You cross the half in the 1:48-1:54 range and hit 23K at 1:59:27 — you're right on schedule for 3:45, not ahead, not behind.
Build your TCS New York City Marathon plan
Upload your own GPX or use TCS New York City Marathon's course — set your goal and recent results, and get the full km-by-km strategy.
Build my TCS New York City Marathon plan →Splitsmith is an independent pacing-plan tool and is not an official partner, sponsor, or affiliate of the TCS New York City Marathon or its organizers. Course data source: digitized from the official course.