Three Months Out, a Record 240,000 Chased 2026 NYC Marathon Bibs. Almost All of Them Were Turned Away.

NEW YORK, Aug. 5 — When New York Road Runners opened the doors to its 2026 drawing in February, more than 240,000 people from over 160 countries walked through them. About one percent got a bib.

Those figures, released by NYRR on March 4, represent the second consecutive year the race has broken its own application record, a near-20 percent jump over 2025. The trend line is steep: roughly 165,000 applied for the 2024 race, about 200,000 for 2025, and 240,000-plus this year.

The squeeze reached well past the lottery. NYRR accepted only the top 10 percent of Time Qualifiers who had run their qualifying marathon outside the NYRR race calendar, meaning those runners had to beat their age- and gender-group standard by at least 22 minutes and 52 seconds. Roughly 24,000 NYRR members who missed out on the general drawing were funneled into a Member-Only Second-Chance Drawing with an acceptance rate of up to two percent.

Demand has been building on a race that keeps outgrowing itself. The 2025 edition set a world record as the largest marathon ever staged, with 59,226 finishers, reclaiming from London a title New York had taken the year before with 55,646.

This year's race, on Sunday, November 1, marks the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course, first run in 1976 to celebrate the nation's Bicentennial. The event started six years earlier as four laps of Central Park with 55 finishers.

For those still without a bib, the remaining paths are narrow. The Official Charity Partner Program, expanded to more than 670 organizations for the anniversary year — the most in its history — is the most realistic. NYRR has set a fundraising target above $100 million, and roughly 60 percent of partner charities are headquartered in New York City, up from 52 percent in 2025. Last year more than 14,000 charity runners raised a record $80 million for over 600 organizations, including $38.4 million for New York City-based groups, a 14 percent increase over 2024. Since 2006 the program has raised close to $700 million.

International runners who are not full-time U.S. residents can still buy guaranteed entry through one of more than 100 approved tour operators across 50 countries. Runners who would rather cover the distance from home can enter the Virtual TCS New York City Marathon, held October 24 through November 1.

Runners already in the field face their own calendar. Bib personalization closes September 8. Race numbers must be collected in person at the marathon expo from October 29 to 31, and marathon week opens with the free Kids Kickoff on October 25.

Anyone thinking about 2028 should mark September. NYRR has restructured its 9+1 program, the guaranteed-entry route favored by local runners: beginning with the 2027 pass, members must first win a free eligibility drawing, with entry open September 17 to 29 and the draw on October 1. Runners currently completing 9+1 toward the 2027 marathon are unaffected.

The professional field for 2026 has not yet been announced. Last November, Kenya's Benson Kipruto took the men's race in 2:08:09, edging countryman Alexander Mutiso by three hundredths of a second in the closest men's finish the race has seen; Albert Korir was third in 2:08:57, and Eliud Kipchoge placed 17th in 2:14:36 to complete his Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star. Hellen Obiri won her second New York title in 2:19:51, breaking a 22-year-old course record, ahead of Sharon Lokedi and Sheila Chepkirui. Marcel Hug won a seventh men's wheelchair title and Susannah Scaroni a second straight women's crown.

The men's course record has stood since 2023, when Tamirat Tola ran 2:04:58.