Looking for Experienced Advice: Ferry or Bus to NYC Marathon start?

Cool story brah

I've run NYC four times. Took the ferry all four times. But came from Mid-Town only the first time, and around Battery Park (southern tip of manhattan within walking distance of the ferry) the last three times.

I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it. You'll see the sun rise over the water, get a great view of the statue of liberty, and have plenty of space to stretch out. Smooth and no chance of sea-sickness, I think (it is basically an everyday commuter ferry, after all). And nowhere near as crowded as the bus experiences I've had at other big marathons.

Thanks...was it a bad idea to stay in midtown and take the ferry? Is it a bad idea to rely on the subway to get to the ferry terminal?

I would rather stay in midtown. It would be better for after the race.

No, subway is fine, and midtown is fine. Just means you gotta get up earlier to account for the extra transit time from midtown. I'm not sure how bad/long the bus lines are in NY, but for me, being able to stretch out and relax on a ferry, rather than standing in a line for a bus and then being cramped in a bus seat, is a much better start to race morning.

I did the bus because I had no other choice (I was in sub elite group), but I didn't regret it at all. I was only a short cab ride from the pick up and I felt like it eliminated a variable on race day. Others have done ferrry and reported back positively.

Subway is very reliable there are on average 2.5 million rides on any given Sunday and over 5 million on weekdays

This will give you a number of options to get from where you are in midtown to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal

http://tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx

Smoove wrote:

I did the bus because I had no other choice (I was in sub elite group), but I didn't regret it at all. I was only a short cab ride from the pick up and I felt like it eliminated a variable on race day. Others have done ferrry and reported back positively.

Thanks, guys...

That is what I like about the bus option--it eliminates a variable. I believe my hotel is about 5 blocks from the bus pick-up point in midtown. No cab needed, I suppose?

I looked at a map. Counting the avenue block correctly, it is more like 6 or perhaps 7 blocks to the bus pick-up point. Looks like the avenue block should count as three blocks, and from what I can recall about Manhattan, the avenue blocks do seem like about three street blocks.

jamin_the_really_real_one_1 wrote:

Cool story brah

Save the saying of brah to the professionals, brah.

The ferry is great. Very smooth. I've ridden it many times and I don't think I've ever felt it roll or pitch.

I would walk it - 10 north south blocks is half a mile.

I ran in 2010 and was also staying in mid town Manhattan. I took the subway to the ferry station. It was a pretty smooth journey and the ferry ride is pretty quick. Definitely use the facilities on the ferry if you can, porta potty lines at the starting area are ridiculously long.

outsiderunner wrote:

I looked at a map. Counting the avenue block correctly, it is more like 6 or perhaps 7 blocks to the bus pick-up point. Looks like the avenue block should count as three blocks, and from what I can recall about Manhattan, the avenue blocks do seem like about three street blocks.

has a waling feature too.

or plugin your hotel zipcode (100xx) and use

in a city yoot wrote:

outsiderunner wrote:

I looked at a map. Counting the avenue block correctly, it is more like 6 or perhaps 7 blocks to the bus pick-up point. Looks like the avenue block should count as three blocks, and from what I can recall about Manhattan, the avenue blocks do seem like about three street blocks.

http://tripplanner.mta.info/MyTrip/ui_web/customplanner/TripPlanner.aspx

has a waling feature too.

or plugin your hotel zipcode (100xx) and use

http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/

Thanks...

Still cannot make up my mind. The pee-pee thing on the ferry has me thinking. I tend to need to pee-pee a lot before a race.

There is a ton of urinating happening all over the bridge once folks start getting pulled up there for the start.

Your question is stale but here’s a bit of update just following the 2022 marathon. The logjam of runners getting onto buses following the ferry ride was terrible and chaotic. My own wait standing was an hour twenty minutes causing me to miss my corral. As people grew impatient the crowd pressure ended up causing people to be shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe. I suspect NYRR will work to improve it for next year but I’d be leery of going that route in the future.

I had a 5:30 bus time from the library. Arrived at 5:20 and did not make it on a bus until 6:45 (line was 4 horizontal blocks long, snake style, and about 3-4 people wide). Arrived at village security at 7:30, and made it to my wave village about 10 minutes before the Wave 1 corral opened at 7:50. Less chaotic, but still cutting it close. There were way too many wave 3/4 people in line for the bus at 5:30 (with later bus times printed on their bibs), but hard to blame them when NYRR allowed the situation.

Yes, the bus situation after the ferry was an absolute cluster-f this year. Was my 5th NYC and can’t remember it being that bad before. No organization whatsoever - just a crush of people.

I took the 6:15 ferry and it was about a 45 minute wait to get on a bus. sounds like it was much worse for people who arrived later.

one positive was that once on the bus, it moved smoothly all the way to the fort. no traffic backups at all - I’ve definitely had longer rides in previous years.

ill still do the ferry next year despite this. plenty of room on the boat to stretch out a bit. bathrooms onboard and both terminals..

What did NYRR change this year to cause/allow it to be a mess? They've been doing this race long enough. You'd think they'd have it streamlined and efficient.