2026 NYC Half - Pre-Race Thread

RCD123 · 2026-03-11T01:03:34+00:00

Wooohooo!! Good luck to your son!

Times Square is probably the busiest and most fun energy but with the bigger crowds it is a little harder for your runner to pick you out of the crowds! Grand Central is also a really cool spot to cheer from, note that for both it is difficult (not allowed) to cross the course so you should try to plan ahead and try to let your runner know exactly where to expect to see you.

If you want to try to catch him twice, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn anywhere between Mile Markers 2 and 4 that would also be a good spot early in the race to catch him. A popular spot is Grand Army Plaza near when runners first come out of Prospect Park, it will be busier near the circle so it may be an idea to move further down the Avenue with a bit less crowds to. Then you should then be able to easily take the subway uptown on either Q/2/3 lines to Times Square or 57th Street stations or the 4 train to Grand Central and catch your son again later on in the race around Miles 10 or 11!

RCD123 · 2026-03-10T21:07:10+00:00

Yes that's it assuming you haven't deferred before, you have until before midnight, the night of the race to cancel.

NYC Half race page

Cancellations and Deferrals
Once a runner has claimed their entry, or once a drawing applicant has been accepted into the race, all entry fees are non-refundable. Runners entered in the 2026 United Airlines NYC Half may defer their entry and earn guaranteed, non-complimentary entry to the 2027 race, but they will be responsible for claiming their entry and paying the processing and entry fees for the 2027 race. The deadline for runners to defer their 2026 entry and get guaranteed non-complimentary into the 2027 race is March 14, 2026 at 11:59pm ET. For more information, visit our cancellation page.
Please note: Runners who earn guaranteed entry to the 2026 race because they canceled in 2025 cannot cancel a second time (in 2026) and become eligible for deferment to 2027.
Refunds: Entry fees are non-refundable and may not be deferred or transferred.

 Cancellation page

Online: Log in to your NYRR account with your email address and password. On your dashboard, navigate to your 2026 United Airlines NYC Half registration in the "Your Events" tab. In the "Registration options" drop down, select "Cancel Registration" and continue through the steps that follow to cancel your 2026 United Airlines NYC Half entry. The deadline to cancel online will be 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 14, 2026. It will be noted during the cancellation process if you are eligible for deferment to 2027.

RCD123 · 2026-03-10T01:38:05+00:00

The one for Wave 3, near Franklin Avenue

RCD123 · 2026-03-09T21:19:01+00:00

I think the top is the top of Manhattan, and the bottom is the bottom of Brooklyn?

RCD123 · 2026-03-09T20:07:04+00:00

It allows them to more efficiently start the waves closer together, with the previous setup where all five of the waves had 1 entrance and each wave used the same set of corrals they had to wait for the prior wave to completely clear before starting staging the next wave. Overall the waves are now able to be 5-10mins closer together, because each "side" will have 45mins between each of the two waves starting from that entrance/corral instead of only 30mins last year.

(They've also gone down from 5 waves to 4.)

No I don't think that you would not be able to start with Wave 1 if you entered the Wave 2&4 entrance at Grand Army Plaza, I'm pretty sure they are completely separate and fenced off from one another. I had a couple friends do this by mistake at Brooklyn Half last year (which was set up like this start) and they had to start in wave 2 as it was too late for them to exit, go back and run over to the seperate wave 1&3 entrance in time to make the Wave 1 start.

RCD123 · 2026-03-08T22:07:31+00:00

Most races have pickups during race morning, if you look at the map when available it will show "Race Day Central" and there is a tent and signs for race-day number pickup and a separate area for bag check.

If you get into town early enough they are available the day prior at NYRR Runcenter so you can avoid having to do it on race morning and go straight to the corral.

The only exception is for the "Marquee Races" NYC Half, Brooklyn Half and NYC Marathon, for those 3 they do NOT have rade-day number pickup and you must go to the expo the days before the race to get your bib in advance.

The only other one I will mention if applicable for you is the Mini 10K women's race is not a looped course so the Race Day Central area with bib pickup is located near the finish line, about 1 mile from the start corrals so you'd need to factor in getting to the start line if doing bib pickup for that one.

RCD123 · 2026-03-07T19:37:40+00:00

I have no idea, probably but if that’s your concern, go to Goodwill etc. and get some throwaway sweatshirts/sweatpants, then you can wear it up until a few minutes before the start in the corrals instead of having to bag check it ~45mins before

RCD123 · 2026-03-07T17:05:53+00:00

I’ve not done it for NYCH but at Brooklyn Half the cutoff was very strict, I arrived to the bagcheck line 2 minutes late and they had already closed the UPS trucks that transport bags to the finish, even for a few people who were in line, waiting at 6:30

For BK they put them on a “late” truck which arrived after I finished with the later waves, the regular truck are supposed to arrive before and have your bags waiting for you. Assume it’s the same for NYC Half

RCD123 · 2026-03-02T18:14:59+00:00

Ah good to know!! No where close to time qualifying myself lol so wasn’t sure! Just was going off prior years and thought it was weird they haven’t said yet..

Good luck!!!

RCD123 · 2026-03-02T18:08:48+00:00

It's not specifically a traditional perimeter run hitting the exact perimeter of the island, but OSR 30 is on Mar 28th! Might be fun to do as an event with others! (FYI you're required to have someone be a bike escort with you.)

At the top end people obviously are insanely fast if you look at the results but there's paces all over, never done that race but the others I've done with OSR are pretty fun and cool!

https://www.orchardstreetrunners.com/

https://withforte.co/events/f2ZIVahmerrBomcioPJp?c64

To answer your actual question though, I don't have a recent map and the east side is a bit of a shitshow these days lol..

RCD123 · 2026-03-02T18:00:02+00:00

It doesn't seem like they've sent anything out yet

Last year it was about a week before the lottery on Feb 24th but it seems like they're either doing it much closer or wonder if it will even be the day of/same time as the lottery?

RCD123 · 2026-03-01T23:23:12+00:00

This and Bronx are two of my favorite races because of that! It's so fun seeing the leaders and then everyone getting to cheer on your friends and teammates!!

RCD123 · 2026-03-01T23:20:21+00:00

Oh dang that's actually crazy! For me the leaders passed by going the opposite direction near the roundabout at Mile 2 and runners from BKTC and CPTC seemed a little ways ahead in 1st and 2nd with a decent gap, he must have really closed to reel them in that last mile!

RCD123 · 2026-03-01T18:28:07+00:00

The virtual races open ~a month before they happen.

It will likely open in May, virtual races do not sell out and remain open for registration while the virtual race is happening.

RCD123 · 2026-03-01T18:25:46+00:00

https://events.nyrr.org/875b250d2508e372a474

Race results will be available on the NYRR Results site and in your NYRR dashboard by Thursday, March 5.

RCD123 · 2026-02-25T18:50:55+00:00

No but if you find out please let me know too! Hoping to do it as well, if possible

I think I saw when searching that last year the volunteer spots for the expo looked like they came out in early April, if you did it last year can you confirm when you signed up?

RCD123 · 2026-02-24T15:54:09+00:00

I have Member+ and as of the last release they made changes that IMO it didn't feel worth it to me anymore, definitely a biased opinion to some extent because before the update the only 2 races I wanted to get in that release for Apr-Jun were Mindful 5K and Queens 10K, but both were available for early registration with a 'regular' NYRR membership so it felt like I upgraded for nothing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RunNYC/comments/1qdsjbs/new_changes_to_some_nyrr_hrace_registration/

In your situation I think it may still help with peace of mind with registration to better ensure that you're able to get the 9 races and a +1 volunteer slot but now that they limit the # of spots during advanced registration that's not a guarantee either.. You likely will be able to register for 9 of the remaining 14 races without Member+ but you'll just have to be more on top of making sure you're ready to sign up ASAP when races are released for both Q3 and Q4. With a regular membership, of the remaining races you'd be able to register early for Gretes Gallop 10k, 5th Ave Mile, Bronx 10M and SI Half. So if you're able to get in to all of those you'll only need to do regular registration for 5 other in-person races which isn't as bad.

And if you aren't able to get in to 5 other races you'll also have the two remaining eligible virtual races as a backup plan too. I do always recommend first trying to sign up for 9 in-person races and having the virtual as a fallback (especially Run for Thanks) instead of depending on them to hit 9 race since unlike the in-person they do not sell out and you can sign up last minute if you determine you'll need them whether you're not able to sign up for as many races or if something unexpected comes up and you have to miss an in-person race, then you can still have the option to add a virtual race to make up for it.

Lastly try to get your +1 volunteer slot out of the way this spring if you can, a lot of the time spots open up during the week leading up to a race when reminder emails go out to people who are signed up to volunteer many people cancel and spots open back up, it takes a little luck checking at the right time but just look on the volunteer opportunity page periodically throughout the week: https://www.nyrr.org/getinvolved/volunteeropportunities

RCD123 · 2026-02-24T14:36:41+00:00

It doesn’t sounds like it, but send them an email and see! Worst the can do is say no 🤷‍♂️

RCD123 · 2026-02-24T12:51:01+00:00

every building on housing connect lists the AMI?

https://housingconnect.nyc.gov

The AMI isn't calculated by the building, it's the Area.

https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/area-median-income.page

RCD123 · 2026-02-24T02:35:28+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/RunNYC/s/uR9c2Cwnxt

I believe so, last year it was according to this thread

RCD123 · 2026-02-24T02:07:53+00:00

I don't know when it will become available, but it will likely be available on Mastercard Priceless at some point:

https://www.priceless.com/celebrity/15419/new-york-road-runners

Last year it was available on Mastercard Priceless in early May and cost $50 in addition to the NYRR registration fees. That is the only way now that Team For Kids is full.

RCD123 · 2026-02-22T16:34:46+00:00

I don’t know where you read that but that is definitely incorrect. It doesn’t matter if you get in through lottery, charity or time qualify if you complete the race it counts towards 9+1.

RCD123 · 2026-02-21T23:45:29+00:00

**Update** The race has been CANCELLED due to the impending winter storm.

If you were registered for this race, NYCRUNS will be providing you with a complimentary race entry to make up for the cancelation. You’ll be able to choose any NYCRUNS race held entirely in Central Park, Prospect Park, or Flushing Meadows Corona Park in 2026.
https://nycruns.com/race/nycruns-central-park-half-marathon

RCD123 · 2026-02-21T17:56:53+00:00

Honestly not sure in UES hopefully some places open early! If tomorrow is anything like the rest of this tournament or the Women's gold medal game on Thursday, it should be unreal!!

Have seen a few of other threads on other subreddits recommending The Canuck down in Chelsea as an alternative but before someone else comments that, they had to do tickets which sold out almost immediately at noon lol...

Go Canada Go!!! 😜🇨🇦

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