Congratulations! You’re about to experience once of the most epic sporting events on the planet — the New York City Marathon. The miles are in the bank; all that’s left to do now is check the weather forecast obsessively and finalize your race day plan. Here are our insider tips on how to make the most of your NYC Marathon racing experience.

(1) This is NYC. If you don’t give it the respect it deserves, the course will eat you up and spit you out. But this city rewards those who aren’t afraid to fight. By now, you should have a good handle on how challenging the course is and where the hills are. You won’t be let down. Be patient, then be ready to go for it when the time comes. Suck up every last bit of energy from the crowd.

(2) Hold back the entire first half, especially for the first two miles. All those yahoos sprinting up the Verrazano? Let them go. The second half of the race is harder than the first. Let that really sink in. This is absolutely not the race to attempt banking time up front. This is easier said than done because the deafening crowds and fairly flat terrain in Brooklyn will tempt you to turn it up a notch too soon. Resist.

(3) Get to the Expo early. It’s thrilling, HUGE, a bit overwhelming and can be very draining for your feet, brain and wallet. Go as early as possible (Thursday) to avoid the crowds and get the t-shirt size you want.

(4) Visit the Finish Line near Tavern on the Green before race day. It’s worth a trip to Central Park to soak in the glory of the finishing chute and grandstands before the chaos of race day, and sharpen your mental picture of crossing that line feeling strong. The magnitude of the race and the preparations by the city are impressive. But if you can’t make it there by Friday, skip it til you actually run through it.

(5) Staten Island is COLD AF. Whatever you’ve been planning to wear to the start corrals isn’t enough! Find another layer. It’s bananas to expend precious energy by shivering in the cold because you didn’t feel like shelling out a few bucks for some thrift store sweatpants. The start village is very close to the water and gets really windy, so be prepared and get creative. You’ll see runners wearing everything from pajamas and bathrobes to sleeping bags, heat sheets, trash bags, recycled Halloween costumes and everything in between. Don’t forget an extra hat and gloves, and don’t discard your last layer until the cannon is about to go off. You’ll see runners hurling their extra clothes into donation bins as they exit the corral, but hold on to yours. From the time you leave your corral til you actually cross the start line could be another 30 minutes or more. Shivering wastes energy you’ll want back when you get to the Bronx.

(6) Bring clear trash bags. If it rains that day or in the days leading up to the race, you’ll be grateful to have a big piece of plastic to sit on.

(7) If it’s wet, consider wearing an old pair of shoes to the start village. Some areas can get very muddy, and you’ll be glad to not have mud caked to your sneakers when you head to the start. Or, bring plastic grocery bags to tie around your race shoes to keep them dry. Smart is sexy.

(8) The boarding times for the bus and ferry are bogus. Go early and just get on. No one checks for your assigned time.

(9) Bring a second breakfast and snacks. Many hours will pass from the time you leave your apartment/hotel til you actually get to run. Plan meals and digestion time accordingly.

(10) Long lines are everywhere; toilets are not. Be prepared to wait in a lot of lines — to board the bus or ferry, to get to the start village, and then to get to the actual start line from your corral. If you’ve been hydrating all morning, it’s not always easy to hold it. You’ll see lots of people doing what they need to do, wherever they are, but don’t sweat it if you’re on the lower level of the Verrazano. It’s just runner lore that you could get peed on.

(11) There are port-o-johns inside the corrals with shorter lines than the start village.

(12) Put your name on your race shirt. Make it big and legible, so enthusiastically intoxicated people can shout it all day! This is key. It’s part of what makes NYC unique.

(13) The bridges are placed at just the right points to really hurt. The first mile of the course on the Verrazano Bridge is an uphill climb that's usually windy, and the second mile is a smoking fast downhill. Most likely, your GPS watch won’t register til you’re off the bridge, so rely on internal pacing. If you go out too fast, you’ll pay for it later on. The Pulaski Bridge hits right at the halfway mark, and it should feel like more of a bump in the road than a big hurdle. (If it feels particularly hard, it’s time to re-evaluate your pacing strategy. There’s a lot of race left.) The Queensboro at Mile 15/16 is where things get real. Unfortunately, you’ll probably lose GPS there, too. But once you crest the top, you’ll hear the crowds on First Ave waiting for you, and that’ll give you a huge boost. From there, you’ll make your way to the Willis Ave Bridge in the Bronx, wind your way around Marcus Garvey Park (which feels endless), then you’ll hit the Fifth Ave mile, starting at 106th St up to Engineers Gate. That mile down Fifth Ave isn’t particularly steep, but it’s long, and it hurts. Your legs and brain are pretty shot at that point, so the wheels can start to fall off. Be ready. Most marathoners find their fifth gear with 10K left on the course. But for NYC, save something in the tank all the way to Mile 24 when you enter the park, then let ‘er rip.

(14) Low fives only!

(15) Race your own race. You will never suddenly run faster than ever before in a marathon, so pace yourself accordingly from the get-go.

(16) Make very specific plans with your spectators. Know in advance exactly which corner(s) your crew will be on. If they’re on the east side of the street and you’re running on the west side, there’ll be too many runners for you to cut over (without really pissing off some people.)

(17) Don’t rely on GPS for pacing. GPS gets wonky and unreliable on the bridges and other parts of the course, especially the lower level of the Verrazano and the Queensboro. If you’re concerned about pacing, get a pace wristband and switch your watch to manual split at the mile markers.

(18) The finish line is at the top of a hill. Nothing about NYC is easy! Prepare mentally for one last challenging kick at the end.

(19) The course is crowded the whole way. But it’s absolutely electric. Allow yourself to take it in — you’ll fly!

(20) Beware of aid stations. 50,000 runners translates to a jillion and a half discarded cups, every single mile. Aid stations can be quite slippery and a bit of an obstacle. Step carefully.

(21) Run the tangents, as best you can. The course is anything but a straight shot. Be prepared for a lot of turns, in all 5 boroughs. You’ll have lots of opportunities to run smart by finding the tangent on turns if you’re looking ahead and being strategic about your path. If you zone out and enjoy the crowd too much, you’ll find yourself swept to the outside of the turns which could add a couple tenths of a mile to your total distance. If you care about your finish time, that’ll sting.

(22) Entering Central Park at Engineers Gate is a tease. You’ll destroy what’s left of your quads heading down Cat Hill, but the crowds are insane, so you may not even notice. But when you get to the south end of the park, you have to exit and run to Columbus Circle outside the park, then re-enter one last time a few tenths of a mile before the finish. It feels like Jedi mind tricks to enter the park, leave, and come back in, so be prepared and don’t let it break you.

(23) Don’t bother having anyone meet you anywhere near the finish or in Central Park. Choose a street corner on the Upper West Side, west of the park. (Columbus Ave and anywhere in the upper 70’s/low 80’s.) Or, just meet at a restaurant/bar/hotel.

(24) Run with a Metrocard and take mass transit or be prepared to walk west to get a cab — they’ll be hard to come by.

(25) Don’t even consider hopping into a pedicab. It will seem tempting, but they overcharge at astronomical rates that day.

(26) Grab a copy of the special marathon edition of the NY Times first thing Monday morning. They print the names of all finishers as space allows. Grab it early; newsstands will run out.

(26.2) Bask in your glory. NYC is an incredible experience and you slayed the beast!

GOOD LUCK OUT THERE!

Not feeling 100%? Hit us up and pop in for a quick pre-race tune-up to get those legs feeling fresh, or stop by to use our Normatec compression boots before and after the big dance.


Team Clutch