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FFF: Why I’m Not Running the NYC Marathon


Are you dreaming of running... - TCS New York City Marathon | Facebook

or 2026 NYC Marathon?

  1. Enter the lottery. (Over 200,000 applied this year and only 2% got accepted.)
  2. Run 9 NYRR races and volunteer at 1.
  3. Raise money for a charity. (There about 500 official charities.)
  4. Run an age qualifying time at a NYRR half or full marathon.
  5. Enter the lottery for a non-NYRR age qualifying marathon.
  6. Enter the lottery for the Virtual Marathon.
  7. Purchase it through an official travel agency.

I’ve qualified every year since 2019 with a NYRR half marathon time.

And I’ve been lucky enough to complete the race in 2019, 2023 & 2024.

I had a guaranteed entry again for this year, as well.

And since I didn’t run any NYRR half marathons this year (I didn’t accept my guaranteed entries for Brooklyn & NYC), I won’t have the opportunity to run the NYCM next year and not likely in the future.

IOW, it wasn’t an easy decision but I’m sure I made the right one.

Here are 5 Reasons why I didn’t accept my Guaranteed Entry to the NYCM:

1.I’ve done it THREE times already.

I’d like to travel more and/or run some different races.

2.The training is so time-consuming.

And I still work full-time.  It’s stressful trying to fit in those weekend long long runs.

3.I want to preserve my “body” and be able to run many more years. 

I mean I AM over 70. Nothing hurts and I want to keep that way.

4. It’s expensive – hotel rooms, meals, transportation, etc.

As mentioned above, with that $$, I could travel.  And I don’t have those free hotel rooms anymore.

5. I’m looking forward to being a spectator (for the first time) and supporting my 3 friends who are running it.

They’ve cheered me on and now it’s my turn to return the favor.  It should be fun.

That being said, I think everyone should run this race at least once. It is an amazing experience.

I hope you all get the chance.

2026 TCS New York City Marathon | My Next Marathon

Happy Running! Have you already run this race? Do you want to run the NYC Marathon? Have you ever entered the lottery? Please share.

 

 

 

 

 

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12 thoughts on “FFF: Why I’m Not Running the NYC Marathon”

  1. These are all valid reasons!

    I think we tend to forget about the cost of these big race weekends! I remember when I used to run Disney events… registration aside, you had hotels, travel, and of course you had to get at least one park tickets because you were in Disney! It was like a whole vacation for a race or two!

    I love that you will be spectating!

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  2. It’s very useful to share your reasons why you’re not running it. I would love to run London just the once, but you have to do the ballot as I’ll never get a GFA and I wouldn’t be able to raise the money necessary to get a charity place. We do have a place with our running club and this year only nine people went into that little ballot, so that’s my best chance, and I know they would accept me representing them whatever I could do. I am spectating next weekend and then the ballot opens the next day – do I hope I can pull back my strength this time as I’d definitely be in trouble if I’d had a place for next week!

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  3. All valid reasons! I am lucky to have guaranteed entry but I don’t for the NYC half and I didn’t qualify this year and may not run another NYRR half this year so next year I’ll have to do lottery/charity. Spectating for NYC Marathon is awesome, too!

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  5. Yeah- I get it. You’ve already done this race three times. There are lots of other races out there! Plus… I don’t think you really enjoyed the marathon training. And if you don’t enjoy the training, it’s not really worth it.

    I did run NYC twice, in the 90s when it wasn’t so hard to get in!

    Liked by 1 person

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