If you ran the 2023 NYC Marathon, this thread is for you.

1) 2:48 / sub 2:50
2) 82 / 86
3) Crowd and volunteer support was phenomenal. Probably none better in the world.
4) Bus driver to Staten Island got lost. Way too many charity/corporate sponsor runners to weave around in first mile despite starting in corral 1A. Nearly crashed into Hassidics casually crossing street in WBurg.

Happy with the experience. Leg cramps in last couple miles meant the positive split was bigger than I wanted but I admittedly went a touch quick through Brooklyn.

I was having some lower leg cramp issues myself. I believe it was because it started to get warm and we were sweating more. If I had to do it again I would’ve supplemented salt before the race.

For most people, this is the way to go. No one cares if you take 10 or 15 minutes longer to finish and you don’t have to take as much time off afterwards.

I did a 50min Easy this morning (Tues 11/7).

1) Hoped for 2:47, actually ran 2:50

2) 1:24 first half, 1:26 second half

3) Ample pre-race portapotties, well-staffed water stations, unmatched atmosphere

4) They need to do a better job policing who enters corral 1A, and/or not having charity runners up near the front. The first mile going up Verrazano Bridge is very treacherous.

1) Aimed for 2:45, ended up running 2:42 (yay)
2) 80 / 82 (was hellbent at one point to get the 2:40 but that damned 5th Ave climb...)
3) 10th NYCM, and it never gets old. The weather, crowds, and energy in general was phenomenal
4) Echoing what others said about Blue 1A, but PSA to those who will be assigned Blue 1A in the future: you can easily avoid this bottlenecking and still run with fast people if you just move to Pink 1A. When the corrals collapse, you can just move up to the Local Competitive corral and there are plenty of people there who are just as fast as the runners in Blue 1A. There's no one in front of the Local Competitive group so it's smooth sailing at the start. Orange is also an option but if you're faster than 2:45, you're going to be very lonely until Mile 9 so it may not be to your advantage.

(1) 3:29 / 3:14

(2) 98:30 / 95:00

(3) I'm not a sub-elite or VIP, so I took the train to the ferry to the bus to the Fort. I thought this was done as well as it could have been. I got everywhere I wanted to be early but was prepared. I was in Wave 2/A, so I got to hear the elites and WC go, which was nice. Bathrooms, coffee, etc., in ample supply. But if there was bad weather this would have been not as nice.

The start was amazing well planned and provided one of the best backdrops for starting a run I've seen in a minute. The crowds throughout were great but I got hit with a confetti popper (it was for a runner in front of me) but it scared the hell out of me. NYRR told people no to these, but people don't care. The water/Gatorade tables were excellent. I didn't have to do too much bobbing and weaving to get to a cup and it was available early and often. I thought the areas such as South Williamsburg, the Pulaski Bridge, the Ed Koch Bridge and the Willis Avenue Bridge should stay as spectator free as they were--it was nice to be able to gather one's self if only for a 1/2 mile or so. I finished around 1PM so NYRR had already put out a couple hoses spraying runners on the course over the last few miles--which was very nice.

The medical staff post-finish were everywhere and very helpful to those in need.

(4) Placement of runners. Entice the slower/injured.disabled runners to move back. I was passing people the entire time, which sounds nice, but as someone else said, it got very narrow on Lafayette, in Williamsburg and throughout Central Park. I bumped a lot of people all day and towards the end when I was catching the Wave 1 runners it could have gotten dangerous.

Crowd Control. Along 5th avenue near 119th Street I was running into the post-church crowd coming from Bethel Gospel Assembly--which is a mega church with tons of tourists every week. There was no police presence and I just about ended a 15 year old boy's life by slamming into him.

SIS Gels. I had a tropical fruit, mabe tutti fruity one. It was so big and liquidy and gross. Take less money and get a better gel sponsor please.

Finishing. I'd actually like a tighter finish, because it didn't feel much like finishing a race. And of course walking from 66th street way up to (I can't remember) and then back down to 69th street seemed cruel.

Finally, the most difficult thing of all this was writing on Letsrun.com. This page is using 2GB of memory and I have to close ads to keep typing.

You do realize that Sunday is business as usual for this community? They have ‘tolerated’ the marathon taking over their streets for years. Imagine if the race ran through Wall St on a Monday and everyone in the financial district was walking around the trying to get to power lunches and appointments. New York is what it is.

1) 2:45/3:04

2) 1:24/1:21

3) As a first-time marathoner, I thought the whole experience was amazing. Love that they encourage runners to take the ferry past the statue of liberty. Loved all of the hype-up emails and invitations to pre and post-race events. Love the iconic start on the Verrazano with the canon blast and Sinatra. Thought the overall organization was incredible.

4) Would have loved to have seen more boutique running companies at the expo. I thought I'd finally have a chance to shop for all of the cool running gear made and sold in other parts of the world that aren't available in the US, like boutique brands from Europe and Asia. I thought they would all come over for the NYC Marathon. But it kinda seemed like the expo vendors that were there were a little generic and predictable. New Balance, Feetures, and Maurten, etc. Not bad, but I think the NYC Marathon should make their expo feel more like how the city really is, a city rich with neighborhoods like the West Village, LES, Williamsburg, Fort Greene, a city known for having amazing shopping, endless boutique shops with character and charm. You can find pretty much anything and everything you want in the city. For example, I wanted to find some cool gloves to match my race kit, which I've seen from some of the European companies, but I felt like I was shopping at Academy Sports and Dick's Sporting Goods when I was at the expo and a lot of the merchandise was kinda vanilla. Ended up not spending too much time at the expo and didn't buy much.

My first NYCM in 10 years. Prior course best: 3:16. Lifetime PR: 2:56

1) Finishing time 3:03, Goal was 2:59-3:05. Went for 2:59, on pace through mile 22.5 before hamstring cramps held me back (slow down + 1 stop)

2) 1:29 / 1:34

3) Best marathon in the world. Spectators and all.

4) I trained by HR the whole cycle. Knew I had to go 155 early, 157-158 after mile 10, 160s after mile 20. Instead...I averaged 167 for the 3+ hours with miles 15-24 at HR 170-172. Don't know how this is even possible (my LTHR is about 170). Watch was accurate. Something was off with me. What kept me from bonking earlier? 10 SIS gels (1 at start line and 1 every 2-3 miles).

Ran 65 mpw, a single 17-18-19-20. Hardest long run 20 = 10 E + 10 M with M in the 6:45 range. Not disappointed, this is a tough course.

Anyone figured out if hamstring cramps is simply going out too fast, above ability, and the price to pay or if there is something specific to that muscle group? The only marathon I didn't cramp I ran a negative split finishing strong...and had also done a ton of yoga. So perhaps winning combo.

Also echoing what others say about the start. Even on a nice day it's a long wait, but having experienced it before (2010 is the one year I remember) I can attest it still feels long, though better organized (so many porta potties and all). Pro tip: do wear old shoes around till you get to the corral, and put on your race shoes then.

Announce the LRC meetup a little earlier. Would have loved to join you guys.

Glad you brought up the NYCM Expo. Agree it was generic. Don't know if the NYRR actively goes out and tries to sell vendors the advantage of having a spot in the Expo, but with 50k+ runners, their friends, family joining them and locals that might just stop by, I bet that number is well over 60,000 people hitting the Javits Center over the 3 days.

Did the cost of having a booth or table go up drastically? There was a time you would see races in Jamaica, South America, Europe have a presence there. Also, Nike used have a tremendous exhibit. I also noticed Adidas had a very small booth, Asics wasn't much bigger. Maybe NB asked NYRR to restrict the size of their booths of the competing brands?

Also, with the Ted Corbitt/NY Pioneer exhibit at the NY historical Society currently going on, it would have been great to have a small exhibit with pictures, items, etc at the Expo. Would have loved to learn more about those early days.

The biggest problem for me is that a lot of the men's stuff were out of stock, even online a couple weeks before the race. There were a lot of colors of everything theoretically but all they had left was black. None of the women's gear seemed to be out.

Yeah I was wondering the same thing, that maybe NYRR sells companies the exclusive right to be an official partner of the marathon and expo. Obviously there is a deal with New Balance, so I'm guessing that's why we don't see many other running brands present. They literally had everyone funneling into the massive New Balance pop up, meaning there was no way around it. Once you picked up your bib, and you had to walk through the New Balance pop up store in order to exit the packet pick-up area.

Personally, I'd rather see a diverse lineup of companies and brands that have the opportunity to gain exposure and give runners more options to choose from.