The Marathon's Five Boroughs Turn 50, Free to Walk In
NYRR fills Vanderbilt Hall with five borough stops, a 1,976,000-step shared goal and a finish line photo op.
🏁 The Week Before Race Day
✍️ Cheer Signs and a Finish Line
Five borough stops fill Vanderbilt Hall along a walkable version of the marathon route. Queens projects the 2026 course, the Bronx runs guest DJ sets, and Staten Island parks a pace car beside a replica Verrazzano span. Brooklyn sets out card stock for cheer signs, where visitors make one for a runner they know, and Manhattan ends the walk at a finish line photo op, with giveaways and Shake Shack vouchers.
🏃 1,976,000 Steps Together
The room works toward a single number. A stadium-style scoreboard adds up the steps, miles and laps visitors log across four days, chasing NYRR's goal of 1,976,000 steps, a figure drawn from 1976, the year the marathon first crossed all five boroughs. Walk the projected route, circle the borough stops, and the total climbs. Past marathon champions appear as special guests, and a projected name wall collects visitors' names.
🎫 Doors, Hours, No Ticket
It runs October 27 through 30, and entry is free. Doors open at 10 AM on Tuesday and 8 AM Wednesday through Friday, then close at 7 PM each day. Vanderbilt Hall sits off the main concourse at Grand Central, a short walk from the 42nd Street subway entrances and the Metro-North platforms. No ticket, no RSVP, no booking step: walk in during open hours.
