So the window is closing on getting in with an “easy” (at least “easier”) qualifier. But what does that get you? I know it’s an automatic entry that you pay for, but do you then get to start in the front? How close to the front? Are there waves and you are in the first wave?
I guess the real reason I’m asking is to decide whether I should try to qualify soon, or just wait and either qualify later (if I can) or get in through the lottery. I’ve never run NYC and figure it’s one of those things I should do.
If you’re fast enough to meet the qualifying standard, you will certainly be in the first wave (there are 3) and very close to the front of the starting corral.
Like the OP said if you qualify through a race your going to be very close to the front.
I’m not that fast a marathoner(about a 3:25 marathon) and I usually start a few corrals back.Its never taken me more then 20 seconds to cross the start line.
Getting in through the lottery has gotten a little more difficult over ther years.
From your screen name it looks like your from New Jersey.
Have you ever thought about doing the 9+1 NYRR races to qualify?
it gets you the opportunity to spend a lot of money on a marathon it is well-organized and a fun race, but is very expensive. plus, there were a flood of emails from the organization encouraging us to buy stuff. it got pretty annoying.
its not really clear to me whether they use your qualifying time or your estimated marathon time to assign bib number and start corral.
i qualified under the old standards and ran it this year. my qualifier was a 1:28 half (age 57) and i gave them an estimate of 2:58 for the marathon*. that put me in the 5000 corral in the first wave. There are three waves starting about 20 minutes apart. In each wave, there are three different start streams along the bridge, and corral 5000 would have been the third corral in our stream.
my wife qualified with 1:39 half and was in the 17,000 corral, which was near the end of the first wave. i started in her corral and it took us less than a minute to cross the start line. we weaved around people a bit in the first two miles, then we split up and ran our own races and i did a bit more weaving for a few miles. the streams don’t merge until mile 8 or so. For the number of people (5000+ in each stream, 15,000+ in each wave), it was remarkably smooth.
watch out for pedestrians/spectators crossing the course. my wife was blindsided by one. she would likely have fallen except another runner saw it coming and caught her and held her up.
i had some hopes of actually training properly but …
If you’re talking about qualifying with a 2:55 then you’ll most likely be a in the first corral behind sub-elites (2:35 or better). That will get you very close and less than 10 seconds to cross the start line. It does not get you a corral in which you can warm up. There are three groups that get you that: elite, sub-elite and local competitive. You need to be on one of the NYRR teams to get into the local competitive as well as a 2:55.
So automatic qualification is nice but doesn’t get you red carpet treatment.
There are three waves starting. about 20 minutes apart
To me this is important. It’s usually pretty chilly on November mornings in NY, so potentially starting 40 minutes earlier is an advantage. The cold morning was a fairly big problem for me in Boston the one time I ran that. I should have brought more clothes.
if i were in the second or third wave, i would just leave the hotel 20 or 40 minutes later. don’t think there is a cut-off time for getting on the ferry to staten island, but i might be wrong about that.
we were very lucky with weather this year. warm and comfortable sitting in the sun before the start. if the race had been the previous weekend in the middle of a snowstorm, it could have been very challenging.
one very nice thing in the start village was that Dunkin Doughnuts were giving out coffee and tea.
it is well-organized and a fun race, but is very expensive. plus, there were a flood of emails from the organization encouraging us to buy stuff. it got pretty annoying.