I’m not running the New York City Marathon on November 1. You knew that - I told you in August (The Finish Line Moved). The Achilles is still doing its slow, boring rehab job, the 3-to-7 milers continue, and my race is next November.
Here’s the part I didn’t expect to write: I won’t be out on the course either. Not this year. That stings more than the not-running does, honestly, and I’m going to leave it there.
But you will be! You’ve got a runner — a spouse, a kid, the college roommate who talked you into a hotel in Midtown — and here’s what nobody tells the family: you don’t watch the marathon. You watch one person for about eleven seconds 😅. The other ninety minutes you’re planted on one curb, cold, refreshing an app, wondering if you missed them. Then they finish, and the first full sentence out of their mouth is “Where are we eating?” And nobody has an answer, because you’ve been standing at a barricade since eleven.
So here’s the guide I’d want if I were the one holding the coffee. Five Zones on and around the course. When the leaders pass, how to figure out when yours does, and what’s worth eating within a few blocks of each - with a number next to it, from my own mouth, same method as always (How I Score). Read it with your runner this week. Pick a curb. Pick a table. Book it now, because 59,000 other families are having the same conversation.
Here’s the math, and it’s the whole trick. Your runner knows two numbers: their wave start and their pace. Wave 3 goes off at 10:20 am. A 9:10 mile times 11 miles is about 1:41. So they hit Bedford Avenue around noon. Plus or minus ten minutes, that’s your window. Do that once for each curb below, and you’ll know more at 8 am than the app does. Every “4:00-4:30 runner” line below is that math already done for a Wave 3 or Wave 4 start - if yours is faster, slower, or in a different wave, run it yourself. Takes a minute. I also found what I think is the best spectator guide for you and your runner. Take a look at The NYC Marathon Spectator’s Guide for 2026 for a more precise tracking of your runner - and then make a better reservation 😉
Two caveats, then the map. First: NYRR changed the Bronx section this year for the first time in fifteen years. Nothing below is in the Bronx, so nothing below moves - but don’t let anyone tell you the course is the same as last year. Second: every clock below is pace math on the posted wave schedule (waves 9:10, 9:45, 10:20, 10:55, and 11:30; the pros at last year’s 8:35 and 9:05 unless they say otherwise). Wave and corral assignments can still shift in the final week - if your runner’s confirmation says something different, use theirs. Treat every time as plus-or-minus ten minutes and run the official TCS app for live tracking. The app is the truth. I’m the guy with lunch ideas.
My map has 295 pins and 200 scores. Laid over the course, 19 of them sit within 500 meters of the barricades - Fort Greene, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, First Avenue, the Park. All of them are open as of this week. I pulled the ones that weren’t.
THE CURB MAP
Zone 1 - Fort Greene / Clinton Hill, Lafayette Avenue (mile ~8)
This is where the three start routes merge onto Lafayette. One river, 59,000 people. If you only stand in one place in Brooklyn, this is a strong argument - and it’s early enough that you can still make a second viewing in Manhattan. Train--> C to Lafayette Ave, G to Fulton.
Leaders: women ~9:18, men ~9:44. Your 4:00-4:30 runner: ~11:30-12:15.
Theodora · 8.9 · Great Mediterranean, simple but classical menu with fresh ingredients. Love! One block south of Lafayette on Greene. It’s a dinner room, not a cheer stop - open 5:00–10:00 PM - so if your runner’s sleeping in Brooklyn tonight, this is the dinner. Book it.
Zone 2 - Williamsburg / Greenpoint, Bedford → Manhattan Ave → Greenpoint Ave (miles ~11-13)
Eight open pins in two miles - the densest stretch on my map, and the densest stretch of spectators. The L at Bedford is the most crowded corner in Brooklyn on marathon morning. Walk north with the runners, and you hit the Pulaski Bridge at 13.1, which is also the best place to lose them for good in the crowd, so pick your spot before you get there.
Leaders: mile 11 ~9:34 / ~9:59; Greenpoint Ave ~9:44 / ~10:08. Your 4:00-4:30 runner: mile 11 ~12:00-12:50; Greenpoint Ave ~12:20-1:10.
Peter Luger · 9 · You have to get the burger — has been one of the best since before everyone started burger lists. Broadway at Driggs, two minutes from Marcy Ave. Sunday Hours: 11:45 AM – 9:30 PM
Diner · 6.4 · Seasonal and decent food. Same corner. Brunch. Expect a line - this is the lunch pin for a Wave 3 family. Brunch Sunday: 10:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Traif · 7 · Great vibe, good food. Dinner after the race when the amount of pork you have doesn’t matter! Sunday Hours: 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM
DuMont Burger · 5.5 · On Bedford - the front door is the barricade. Sunday Hours: 11:30 AM – 10:30 PM
Dokebi Bar & Grill · 4.5 · The low score on the whole course. It stays up. That’s the rule...BUT if you’re craving Korean BBQ. Sunday Hours: 12 Noon - 11 PM
Wild Ginger · 5.5 · Vegan. Sunday Hours: 12 Noon - 11 PM
Sweetwater · 8.1 · Cozy, casual, and romantic, with terrific food and hospitality. Sunday Hours: 10:30 AM - 11 PM
Karczma · 8.9 · Fell in love with this very traditional Polish spot - EVERYTHING is amazing, and I never knew sourkraut could be good! Five meters off the course. The turn from Manhattan Ave onto Greenpoint Ave goes past the door, and the G train exits on that block. If I told you to plant yourself at one restaurant ON this entire route, it’s this one. Cheer from the sidewalk, sit down when they’re past. Sunday Hours: 12 Noon - 10 PM
Zone 3 - First Avenue, Upper East Side (mile ~16-17)
Runners come off the Queensboro in near silence and hit First Avenue, and the wall of sound is real. It’s also where the race gets hard - if your runner needs to see one face all day, this is the mile. You don’t realize it while driving, but this is all uphill. The 70s and 80s are packed; it thins north of 97th. Q Train at 72nd or 86th, 6 Train at 77th.
Leaders: ~10:06 / ~10:28. Your 4:00-4:30 runner: ~1:00-1:50.
Sushi of Gari (the original, 78th) · 7 · Very solid sushi. Sunday [Lunch] 12 pm - 2:15 pm & [Dinner] 5 pm - 9:45 pm
JBird Cocktails · unscored · Evening bar - a later stop.
Sandro’s · unscored · Italian. Sunday [Lunch] 12 pm - 2:30 pm & [Dinner] 4:30 pm - 9 pm
Zone 4 - Central Park East Drive / Madison (miles ~24-25)
Runners are inside the park; you stand on the East Drive or at the Fifth Avenue entrances. The pins are two to three avenues east - close enough to walk once your runner is past, and close enough to the finish that you can meet them there after.
Leaders: ~10:45 / ~11:04. Your 4:00-4:30 runner: ~2:00-3:05.
Sant Ambroeus (Madison) · 8.9 · Great and always consistent, beautiful Italian food - very . Better yet - Espresso, standing up, while you wait. Sunday Hours: 9:00 am - 10:00 pm
Bemelmans Bar · 8.5 · This is a NYC institution. Elegant, classic cocktails, and music. The post-cheer martini. Sunday Hours: 12 pm - 12 am
Daniel · 8 · Dinner, not daytime. Sunday Hours: 5:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Café Boulud · 7.5 · Brunch. Sunday Hours: 11:00 am - 2:30 pm
Zone 5 - Central Park South, Columbus Circle, the finish (miles ~25.5-26.2)
The course exits the park at Fifth and 59th, runs west on Central Park South, re-enters at Columbus Circle, finishes at West 67th. The finish is fenced and the grandstands are ticketed. Columbus Circle station will be a mess. Honest version: the finish is a grandstand, not a dining room — go a few blocks. Two pins sit right on Central Park South, and one waits on the west side where your runner comes out with the medal.
Leaders: ~10:54 / ~11:12. Your 4:00-4:30 runner: ~2:15-3:25.
On the course:
Marea · 9 · Always great @ 240 CPS, south side - they run past the door 0.2 miles before the finish turn. Sunday [Lunch] 12 Noon - 2:45 pm & [Dinner] 3 pm - 10 pm
Sarabeth’s · 6.9 · Good brunch and Great Tomato Soup. Sunday Hours: 8:00 am to 9:00 pm
The west side, where your runner comes out with the medal:
PJ Clarke’s (Lincoln Square) · 4.5 · Casual and great for a beer. Historically the medal bar.
HOW TO USE THIS WITH YOUR RUNNER
Three questions, one conversation, this week.
Where do they need you? From the runner’s perspective, Brooklyn is where the race is fun. First Avenue is fun at the beginning, then it stops being fun. Ask them which one they want a face at - most runners will say Mile 17, and they’re right.
When will they be free? Finish time plus an hour, minimum. The family reunion area on the west side is a slow, happy mess, and nobody with a medal walks fast. If they cross at 3:00, you won’t be sitting down before 4:15.
Then book it. Sunday night, near where they’re sleeping, from the list above, with a number you can argue with. That’s the whole plan. Everything else is the app.
THE ASK - Reader Curb
Now the part I actually care about, because I won’t be there and you will.
THE LIST has been one palette since day one - mine. That’s the product, and it doesn’t change. But November 1 is the first time I’m opening a layer to you, and I’m doing it because my map is my curb, not yours. You’ve got a slice place before the Queensboro Bridge I’ve never heard of. You’ve got an egg sandwich on Fourth Avenue that’s carried you through a Wave 5 start.
If you’re on the course this year - running it or standing on it - reply to this email or drop a comment in exactly this shape:
Mile · Spot · Cross street · What to order · One line why
One mile marker. One place. One dish. It doesn’t need to be on my map. It needs to be within a few blocks of the course, and you need to have eaten there.
Here’s what happens next. I pin every one to a new layer called Reader Curb, with your first name on it - unscored, because I haven’t eaten it, and I don’t put a number on food I haven’t had. Running November 1? Drop your bib number with your pick and it goes on the pin next to your name, so the rest of us can track you past your own restaurant on the app.
This post is free. The full Reader Curb layer lives with everything else on the paid map at opentabs.readopentabs.com/TheMap - the 295, the 200, the misses, and now your pins beside mine.
Give back, don’t take. This is the give-back version.
2027
I’m not running this one. Next November is my race. That’s all I’ve got to say about it for now.
The finish line moved. I didn’t. This year I’m the guy planning your lunch or dinner. Next year, help plan mine!
The Long Table — food, restaurants, and the New York that survives at the table. My taste, not a star rating. This is my experience and my palate, not a critic’s star rating. Reasonable people love restaurants, I found merely fine, and that’s the correct outcome.
Open Tab —> I dove deeper: the full, filterable NYC restaurant Map - the comprehensive one, not the argument — is LIVE now for paid subscribers. A 295-pin map scored 0–10, and the misses are left up where you can see them. No ads, no sponsors, no press meals — nobody pays for my opinion. You do. The full map is at opentabs.readopentabs.com/TheMap.
I'll go first, in the shape I'm asking for.
Mile 13 · Karczma · Greenpoint Ave at Manhattan Ave · real, authentic, Polish · five meters off the course and open when the leaders come through.
Your turn: mile, spot, cross street, what to order, one line why. Bib number if you're running.