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On 2nd November 2025 I took part in the biggest block party on the planet. New York Marathon is always a highlight; the city, the supporters, the fellow runners, everything is just on another level. It was my 5th time running New York Marathon, but no year is the same. Every year there are so many variables that makes each moment unique. This was a particularly good year for me. I felt strong and it was a comfortable race from start to finish.

This was my 5th time pacing 4 hours at New York Marathon. New York Marathon was my 176th Marathon (plus) and my 131st time as an official pacer (including 68 marathons). It was my 15th marathon of 2025, and 12th as a pacer this year. This year I had an added challenge. We decided to go an a family adventure to Taiwan the week before New York Marathon, and I paced the Sun MoonLake 2025. I opted to pace 5 hours, 1) because it was an extremely hilly course, and 2) to save energy for New York Marathon. In fact, the slower pace acted as a quality training session for New York Marathon.

I arrived back from Taiwan (7 hours ahead) on the Thursday, and flew to New York (5 hours behind) on the Friday. So my body clock was well and truly out of sync. I did get a nice surprise when I went through security for my flight, as I got upgraded to premium economy for the first time ever. The extra space was nice.

I landed in New York around midday. I checked into my hotel then went straight to the expo, and toon part in my 4 hour shift. I usually do the Saturday, but I knew I would be there in time, and otherwise I would end up just wasting the Friday night. It also meant I got the Saturday back as free time.

I enjoyed doing the pacer shift at the expo. An opportunity to talk to lots of runners, answering questions and giving out advice and guidance. My shift finished at 20:00 and I picked up a few large slices of pizza on way back to hotel.

Saturday was a fairly relaxed day for me. I got up late, had a wonderful reuben sandwich and walked to 11 different Sephora shops looking for an item for my daughter… I found it, in the last shop, which ironically was the closest to my hotel. It was nice having the Saturday with no plans and just walking around New York City.

New York Marathon 2025

The night before I laid out my kit, to ensure I had everything ready. Whilst I went to bed early, and was tired really early, I intentionally stayed up later watching a film, to ensure I didn’t wake up in the middle of the night.

As always, the pacers meet in Times Square, around 5:30, ready to depart on our coaches at 5:45. I made sure I was there in plenty of time.

It’s nice getting on a bus with the pacers, and we arrived early and have a private tent to wait. It is very early, considering my start was 10:55, I had to wait over 4 hours for the start.

Gradually the pacer tent got quieter as the different waves went to start. The cannons going off make me jump every time. Then finally it was my turn to make my way over to the start.

A big group formed at the start, then as we made our way to the bridge ready to go run New York Marathon. I love these early moments, talking with runners, answering questions, trying to be a source of motivation.

When the cannon goes off and Frank starts playing “New York, New York” we know it’s time to start.

From start to finish the race was perfect. A lot of runners stayed with me throughout,  whilst others decided to pick up the pace a little.

The biggest incline is the first mile, then its rolling. The crowds were out in force with great energy. However there were some quieter areas. The weather was perfect, plenty of water available every mile. The crowds congested us slightly at parts but it was still very relaxed.

In most races I run even splits, but in New York I run by effort. If I ran perfect splits I would likely lose many runners up the hills. As I told my runners at the beginning  the NYRR consider 30 seconds under to be perfect. Therefore I aimed to get to 60 seconds ahead at around 21 miles. The reason for this gradual increase before is knowing that the last 5 miles are pretty tough.

Coming over Queenborough Bridge this year was a little disappointing as I didn’t think the crowds were as loud as normal. But I think this is because around 8 miles it was insane. It felt bigger and louder in most places. At 15 miles we were about 30 seconds ahead of schedule, and then at 16 we were bang on. I then picked up the pace on the down hill sections. As I approached Willis Bridge around 20 miles I was around 40 seconds ahead of target, and coming off the bridge I got us to 55 seconds ahead of target.

This left the hard part. Keeping hold of runners in those final 5 miles. It feels hard, but I know I had 20 or 30 seconds to take it slower when needed. I maintained the pace, and this year I really enjoyed this part. I picked up many runners who had dropped out of other groups and got many runners going again as we passed.

The organisers have really improved Central Park, creating more space and preventing supporters from taking over the path. I was cheering all the way to the end, and got an official time of 03:59:39.

That was the end of 5 New York Marathons, and one of the most enjoyable to date. I love New York Marathon.  Have you ran it? What was your experience like?

When I finished in only had 5 hours until my flight. So I walked back to my hotel via Shake Shack where I got a free burger. I got to the airport with 2 hours to spare. On board BA staff gave me and a couple of other runners a gift in the middle of the night. What a great ending.