A Guide to the NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon
A Guide to the New York Road Runner’s Brooklyn Half Marathon
There are two Brooklyn Half Marathons a month apart. The NYCRuns Brooklyn Half Experience is in April and runs from Williamsburg to Prospect Park.
The NYRR Brooklyn Half runs from Prospect Park to Coney Island.
THIS GUIDE, is about the (insert whatever current sponsor the NYRR has found to take it over for 2-3 years) Brooklyn Half Marathon. (I honestly gave up calling it by it’s sponsor name. It changes too much.)
If the NYC Marathon is the borough tour and ultimate block party, the Brooklyn Half is Ocean Parkway death march that ends in a party. Run by the New York Road Runners, it's officially the largest half marathon in the entire country — something like 27,000-plus runners — and it is always wildly hot but immensely fun. You start near Prospect Park (after waiting 2-3 hours going through security because you know, 27k runners), loop through Prospect Park, wonder why this race is so boring the entire length of Ocean Parkway, and finish remembering why you endured Ocean Parkway and the bottleneck when you enter the Coney Island boardwalk with the ocean on your left and a Nathan's hot dog waiting for you. It's NYRR's unofficial kickoff to summer, and honestly, it’s a love hate kind of race.
If you’ve never done it, you’ll probably love it. If you’re fast and in wave 1, you probably like it. But for the rest of us, we remember a time when this was WAS that girl. Now? It’s a really hot wild circus and we all know the other Brooklyn Half is now that girl.
But if you want to endure Ocean Parkway and see what it’s like to survive the race (IYKYK), here’s a guide.
This guide is built the same way we built our NYC Marathon Guide — because it's the same organizer, the same NYRR app, the same Hunger Games style drama to get in, and the same 'figure out your subway situation or suffer' energy. Except this time you end at the beach instead of in a park, and the crowd goes from 'earnest marathon spectator' to 'full Coney Island block party' somewhere around mile 10. Let's get you there.
Brooklyn Half Marathon Information
Date: The Brooklyn Half is always on a Saturday in May — this year, that's Saturday, May 15, 2027. (NYRR usually confirms the exact date and opens registration the previous fall, so keep an eye on your inbox.)
There’s a lottery to get in so may the odds may ever be in your favor.
Time: There are four waves starting between 7:00 and 8:30 am. Your arrival window depends on your wave and is tight — security screening closes and they will not wait for you. Plan to be at your screening location 45-60 minutes before your wave's corral closes.
Start: Near the Brooklyn Museum / Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Finish: Coney Island Boardwalk, Brooklyn
How To Get To The Starting Line
Getting to the start is genuinely the easiest part of this whole race, which is a nice change of pace if you've ever tried to get to Fort Wadsworth for the marathon. Ride-share is an option but if you do, follow the information the NYRR has set out. Go where they tell you to go unless you know Brooklyn. Then, follow that instinct. Citi bike is another GREAT option but remember, if you’re in a later wave, CHECK THOSE DOCKS before you ride. Know where you can leave that bike. For the subway, assuming the trains are running as they should (which they never are) take the 2, 3, or 4 train into Brooklyn. Runners in Waves 1 and 3 get off at Franklin Avenue; Waves 2 and 4 get off at Grand Army Plaza. The NYRR does a great job updating you on this information. Go find it the weekend of race day.
Double-check your wave assignment before race week because the two stops are a real walk apart, and though it’s not the end of the world if you guess wrong at 6 am, it’ll save you time in security.
Security screening happens at Eastern Parkway & Franklin Avenue (Waves 1 & 3) and Eastern Parkway & Underhill Avenue (Waves 2 & 4). If you're getting dropped off by car, the designated spot is Washington Avenue and Park Place — but honestly, just take the train. Parking and drop-off near the start is a mess and the subway will get you there faster.
SECURITY TAKES A VERY LONG TIME. Expect 30-60 minutes. GET THERE EARLY AND SIT DOWN, MAKE FRIENDS, AND CHILL. The bathroom lines are A NIGHTMARE. GET THERE EARLY. Get in line and take care of yourself. Bonus points if you have a friend on Eastern Parkway and they open their apartment to you to use before you waltz to the long security line and then straight into the corrals.
DO NOT RIDE CITI BIKES TO CONEY ISLAND if you’re a spectator. YES there are docks but NO THERE WILL NOT BE SPACE TO DOCK THAT BIKE. Every year I see friends near Prospect Park who are just coming back from riding all the way out to Coney Island only to learn there was nowhere to leave that bike. Don’t do it. DON’T RIDE YOUR CITI BIKE TO CONEY ISLAND!!!!
Getting home is the part nobody warns you about, so we will. The finish is right off Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, which is a major hub for the D, F, N, and Q trains — it's about a 5-10 minute walk from the boardwalk finish, which is nothing compared to the marathon's 'walk a mile before you find a train' situation. The catch is that 27,000 sweaty, smelly, exhausted (and often buzzed or dunk) victorious runners (and their people) are all trying to get on that same train at the same time. Nathans lines are long. Everything is crowded. IT’S A PARTY. Post race, either book it out of there or hang out and party. But it’s a trek to get back home and trains can be packed.
TIP: Brooklyn doesn't have the hotel density Manhattan does, so book your hotel based on where you’re going to be spending your time. It’s easy to get to Brooklyn from Manhattan if you want to stay in the city.
Where to Stay for the Brooklyn Half Marathon
Let's be honest about something the marathon guide didn't have to deal with: Brooklyn just doesn't have as many hotels as Manhattan, and Coney Island itself has basically none worth staying in. So you've really got two solid strategies — post up in Downtown Brooklyn within a short subway ride of the start, or stay in Manhattan and let the 2/3/4 do the work. Both are completely fine. Don't overthink this one, gang — as long as you're near a 2, 3, or 4 stop, you're in good shape. Stay where you think you want to hang out. Getting to and from the race is easy. NYC has great subways.
Downtown Brooklyn & Boerum Hill (Best for Race Morning)
This is your best bet for logistics if you want to stay in Brooklyn — a short, direct ride on the 2/3/4 gets you to Franklin Avenue or Grand Army Plaza with way less stress than staying in Manhattan.
$$ Sheraton Brooklyn New York Hotel — ~15-20 min subway to the start via Borough Hall/Nevins St
$$ Aloft Brooklyn — ~15-20 min subway to the start
$$ NU Hotel Brooklyn — ~15 min subway to the start via Bergen St
$$ Hotel Indigo Brooklyn — ~15-20 min subway to the start
$$$ Ace Hotel Brooklyn — ~15 min subway to the start via Bergen St
DUMBO / Brooklyn Heights (Splurge, Skyline Views)
If you want the postcard Brooklyn Bridge/Manhattan skyline view for your race weekend and don't mind paying for it.
$$$$ 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge — ~15 min walk to Clark St/Borough Hall, then a few stops on the 2/3
Stay in Manhattan and Subway In
Totally legit option. Anywhere near a 2/3/4 stop in Manhattan puts you one uninterrupted ride from the start — no transfers, no drama.
$ Row NYC (Times Square) — Near 1/2/3, N/Q/R/W — direct ride down to Brooklyn
$$ EVEN Hotel New York - Times Square South — Near 1/2/3 — direct ride down to Brooklyn
$$ Moxy NYC Times Square— Times Square, multiple lines into Brooklyn
$$$ The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel — Financial District, near Fulton St (2/3/4/5) — direct ride to the start
Whichever way you go, the rule is the same as the marathon guide: find a hotel near your subway line and stop stressing about the rest. This is a way easier race to get to than the marathon — you're not schlepping to Staten Island. A 15-25 minute subway ride and you're at the start village. Save your energy for Ocean Parkway.
Should you stay in williamsburg or Greenpoint?
Two very fun parts of Brooklyn are Williamsburg and Greenpoint but they are VERY inconvenient to get to from the start and finish lines. Can you stay there? YES! They have great hotels and nightlife. But you’ll be taking ride-share or spending a lot of time taking multiple trains to get to bib pickup, the start line and the finish line.
Course Notes & What to Expect
Miles 1-6: Grand Army Plaza and Prospect Park
You'll head out from near the Brooklyn Museum, swing around Grand Army Plaza, and duck into Prospect Park for a counter-clockwise loop before mile 6. This is the prettiest, shadiest part of the course — tree-lined, rolling hills (the dreaded hill in Prospect Park), and full of local crowd support. Enjoy it. It's the last real shade you're getting.
Miles 7-12: Ocean Parkway
This is the meat of the race — a long, straight, mostly flat shot down Ocean Parkway toward Coney Island. It's fast, but it's also exposed and it can get real hot real fast in May sun with basically zero cover. There’s sparse crowd support so mentally break it into chunks instead of staring down six miles of dead-straight road.
Mile 13-Finish: The Coney Island Boardwalk
Ocean Parkway turns into Surf Avenue, you take a ramp up onto the boardwalk, and you finish with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Wonder Wheel on the other. It is, without exaggeration, one of the best finish lines in American road racing. Salt air, boardwalk planks under your feet, and the smell of Nathan's already in the air. Soak it in — you earned this one. (There’s always a slight bottleneck before the boardwalk. Depending on your wave, it may be an issue. Be prepared to walk.)
Tips for Running the Brooklyn Half Marathon
Lock in your subway station before race week
Waves 1 and 3 get off at Franklin Avenue. Waves 2 and 4 get off at Grand Army Plaza. These stops are far enough apart that guessing wrong will genuinely mess up your morning. Check your bib/wave assignment when it lands in your email and write the station down somewhere you'll actually see it at 5:30 am.
Dress for a muggy Brooklyn morning, not a cool one
Mid-May in NYC can swing from crisp to sticky fast, and this race has historically run warm. Check the forecast the week of, but don't over-layer for the start village the way you would for a November marathon — you won't need it, and you'll be shedding it fast once the sun's up over Ocean Parkway. Bring toilet paper and something to sit on. You’ll never regret a layer you don’t need but you’ll be bummed if you don’t have one and want it.
Hydrate before the gun goes off, not just during
Start hydrating with sports drink a few days out, not just the morning of. There's very little shade on Ocean Parkway, so going in already topped off matters more here than in a lot of races. This race is hot and it can be dangerous. BE SMART.
Train for real hills — this isn't a pancake-flat course
The first half of this race has legitimate rolling terrain in the first half, and it'll wake your legs up if you haven't practiced it. Get some hill work into your Running Plan before race day so mile 5 doesn't surprise you.
Break Ocean Parkway into pieces
Six-plus miles of straight road with the same view the entire time can mess with your head more than actual hills do. Pick landmarks, count off water stops, put a mental finish line every mile or two. It goes faster than it looks on the map.
Sunscreen and a hat are not optional here
Between the exposed stretch on Ocean Parkway and the open boardwalk finish, this is a sunnier course than most. Sunscreen at the start village, a hat or visor, and sunglasses will save you a rough sunburned Sunday.
Tell your cheer squad the boardwalk is chaos
The boardwalk finish area is packed and cell service gets spotty in the crowd. Pick a specific, named landmark to meet at (not just 'the boardwalk') and agree on it before race day — same rule as any big finish, it's way easier for you to spot them than the other way around.
Go get the Nathan's
Nathan's Famous original stand is right there at Surf and Stillwell, a short walk from the finish, and eating a hot dog on the boardwalk after 13.1 miles is basically a rite of passage for this race. Bring a little cash, grab your medal photos, then go earn that hot dog story for the group chat. The lines are long so have your friends get a snack for you to munch on and put your patience pants on.
The beach is right there — use it
It's May, the ocean's still cold, but plenty of runners dunk their legs or just sit in the sand post-race. If you want in on that, throw a small towel and a change of socks in your bag. Nothing feels better on tired legs than cold salt water.
Build in real time to get home
Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue (D, F, N, Q) is close, but it's also where 27,000 people are all headed at once. Don't schedule anything tight right after. Eat, sit on the beach, let the first wave of the crowd clear the platform, then head out.
Ready to train for your Brooklyn Half?
Whether this is your first half marathon or your fifth, the Badass Lady Gang training app has plans and training experiences available to get you to that Coney Island finish line feeling strong, not just surviving. The Team or The Team with Coaching gets you that custom Half Marathon Training Plan, or if this is brand new territory, read our beginner's guide and enjoy our free 5K training plan to get you started before training for a half marathon.
Want more structure and a whole community training alongside you? Check out our Training Experiences — or come hang out in The Team ($19.99/month, cancel anytime) with a crew of Athletes who will absolutely help you plan your post-race hot dog order. See you on Ocean Parkway, gang.
CLICK HERE to download the app today!
— Coach Kelly
