NYC Marathon week starts: Kids Kickoff today, Grand Central exhibit, Javits expo and the Nov. 1 race

Marathon week is officially on. Nearly 5,000 young runners, ages 2 to 18, are taking part in the TCS New York City Marathon Kids Kickoff this weekend, with about 3,000 running in Central Park on Sunday, ABC7 reported. New York Road Runners says this year's kickoff is double the size of 2025's and, for the first time, spans all five boroughs over two days.

This year is a milestone: Nov. 1 marks the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course, first run on Oct. 24, 1976. NYRR expects nearly 60,000 runners and more than 2 million spectators, and it says race week brings close to $700 million in added economic impact to the city, according to its race-week announcement.

The week at a glance

• Tue., Oct. 27 to Fri., Oct. 30: '50 Years Through the 5 Boroughs' at Grand Central. A free exhibit in Vanderbilt Hall with a borough-by-borough walk along the course, an interactive track with a group goal of 1,976,000 steps, a projected wall of runners' names and visits from past champions. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.
• Thu., Oct. 29 to Sat., Oct. 31: Marathon Expo at the Javits Center (11th Avenue between West 35th and 36th streets). Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; bib pickup ends 30 minutes before closing. Runners must come in person with photo ID and their confirmation form, and no one can pick up a bib for someone else, NYRR says. Time slots can be booked in the NYRR dashboard until 4 p.m. Saturday.
• Fri., Oct. 30, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Opening Ceremony and Parade of Nations. Free and open to the public at the finish line in Central Park, with runners parading by country and the 2026 NYRR Hall of Fame inductions.
• Sun., Nov. 1: Race day. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. that morning, so clocks fall back an hour, ABC7 notes. Channel 7 starts its pre-race show at 7 a.m., and live race coverage begins at 8 a.m. on Channel 7 and ESPN2. A Final Finishers livestream runs 8 to 10 p.m. on ABC7NY.com and NYRR's YouTube channel.
• Mon., Nov. 2: Marathon Monday. The finisher pavilion in Central Park at West 67th Street is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for medal engraving and recovery sessions.

Deals for runners

NYRR's race-week list includes free American Museum of Natural History admission Nov. 1–8 for runners who show their medal, a buy-one-get-one ticket offer at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum Oct. 31–Nov. 7, and 30% off SUMMIT One Vanderbilt tickets Oct. 26–Nov. 8. Shake Shack's 'Bibs for Burgers' returns for a week after the race.

Planning around the course

If you are not running, the big question is getting around on Sunday. We covered the course, including this year's change in the Bronx, and the road closures in our marathon closures guide. Free finish-line grandstand seats are allotted by drawing; details are in our grandstand explainer.