2014 NYC Marathon course map
This year we decided to go watch parts of the NYC marathon live, so we headed into the city around 9:00 to catch glimpse of the elite runners around miles 16~18 and at about ~ 24.9 (inside Central Park). Police presence in and around the finish was pretty extensive and it was difficult getting across the par luckily we were able to walk 65th street , which was closed to car traffic.
Elite Men’ s pack near mile 17, Meb leading
To maximize viewing opportunities of the runners its best to head on over to 1st Ave and 65th street, this way you an catch the elite runners heading uptown and then quickly move back to 5th avenue and catch the runners heading back towards the finish. A nice spot is inside Central Park is right around mile 25, there’s a park entrance at 67th and 5th avenue that will take you on a short path to this spot. There’s no barricades at that location and the crowd is fairly light for the elite runners, only later as the remaining 50,000 runners come through do you get larger crowds.
Elite women’s pack near mile 17 Sara leading
Weather was overcast and windy at about 10am but warmed up slightly as the morning turned into afternoon. Apparently the heavy winds at the start slowed the race by a bit and most of the elites times were off by a few minutes.
When we first say the elites on 1st Ave (about mile 16) there were still pretty substantial packs of runners, but by the time they entered the park both male and female elite races were not decided until the last mile, with each featuring a 2-person head to head finish..
Runners turn onto 59th St. at mile ~25.5
We also were there to cheer on a few friends running and met some other spectators that were cheering for their runners as well.. all in all it was a lot of fun, NYC crowds are great and its a wonderful place to run.
In any case below are some select photos of elites and other runners running the race.
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