Registration opened this past Thursday for the New York City Marathon, and there is a new fee structure in place that you need to be aware of if you plan on registering.
| Open (Age 18-39) | ||
| Marathon | Half-Marathon | |
| Men | 2:55:00 | 1:23:00 |
| Women | 3:23:00 | 1:37:00 |
| Masters (Age 40+) | ||
| Marathon | Half-Marathon | |
| Men | 3:10:00 | 1:30:00 |
| Women | 3:38:00 | 1:44:00 |
| Veterans (Age 50+) | ||
| Marathon | Half-Marathon | |
| Men | 3:30:00 | 1:40:00 |
| Women | 3:52:00 | 1:50:00 |
| Veterans (Age 60+) | ||
| Marathon | Half-Marathon | |
| Men | 3:45:00 | 1:48:00 |
| Women | 4:13:00 | 2:00:30 |
| Veterans (Age 70+) | ||
| Marathon | Half-Marathon | |
| Men | 4:00:00 | 1:55:00 |
| Women | 4:35:00 | 2:11:00 |
First, they are still using the lottery system, so you need to register by June 1st. If you have an automatic qualifying time (see the sidebar at right) then you need to register by May 1st. (This also includes guaranteed entry for NYRR members that run 9 of the 50 NYRR events throughout the year – but don’t forget that you need to volunteer at at least one as well!)
Whether you are getting a guaranteed entry through the lottery or you are hoping that luck will shine on you, you’ll need to pay an $11 processing fee whether you get accepted into the race or not.
If you are accepted into the race, then you need to pay between $138 and $231 to run (which is up between $16 and $21 from last year’s fees.)
- Members of the NYRR pay $138
- Non-members from the US pay $171
- International runners pay $231.
You also authorize the purchase of your chip for $35, although that fee will not be processed as long as you return your chip and it doesn’t get lost. The entry price does not include admission to the pre-race pasta dinner, which you can purchase tickets for after being accepted for $15.
Everything is non-refundable, although if you are unable to run then you can waive your entry to bypass the lottery next year and pay your fees again.
Charity runners can receive guaranteed entry into the race until that charity has met its quota, and you will be required to raise a minimum of $2500. You can not cancel your registration without authorization from your charity.
New York City has been and continues to be the most expensive destination marathon in the United States, which is probably why I don’t expect to run it again at any point in the near future. It costs almost $100 more to run it now than when I ran it a few years ago.
(More Information: Marathon Application Instructions)
$171!!!! Holy cow. I don’t think I’ll be running the NYC marathon anytime soon!
Yikes.. I was going to register for the lottery but that’s mega expensive! Even though I have a free place to stay and everything.. not sure it’s worth that!
The cost of this race has really gone up a lot since we ran it in 2006. I think entry fees were in the $85-100 range 3 years ago
Obviously, this is a huge event and the number of people who want to run it every year greatly excedes the number of spots in the race so I don’t doubt that they will fill it up and have at least 30,000 people who don’t get in.
If they keep jacking up the price, they are going to prevent a lot of people from potentially participating, especially if you listen to the gloom and doom economic forecasts.
They won’t prevent a lot of people from participating, it’ll just change the demographic for the ones that do. They’ll still fill up.
I think you’re right about the race filling quickly despite the steep fees. The NYC marathon is the most profitable of the big U.S. marathons, with something like $6 million left over from last year’s race. I think I’ll stick with supporting the true non-profits for now.
The fee doesn’t scare me away. Disney and Chicago are $125 now so what’s another 50 some dollars? It will cost me well over $1000 to go up there for a weekend anyway. I have an issue with the lottery. They should just open up the registration and when it fills up then that’s it. But I’m only 4 minutes off the guaranteed entry for my half time. So maybe if I can lower that a little I might run it next year.