Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has announced 350 free tickets to the TCS New York City Marathon Grandstand, opening a rare chance for New Yorkers to watch the race from the finish line. The drawing is open now and closes on October 26 at 11:59 p.m., with winners due to hear shortly afterward.
Anyone 18 or older in New York City can enter at on.nyc.gov/2026marathon, and each selected winner can receive up to two tickets. If the winner brings a second person, that extra ticket can go to a New Yorker of any age, widening the pool beyond the adult entrant.
The giveaway lands just ahead of Marathon Sunday, when nearly 60,000 runners will cover 26.2 miles across all five boroughs from the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge to Central Park. More than 2 million spectators and fans are expected along the route, but the Grandstands only line the final 200 meters, where the field turns a long day of running into its most visible finish.
That is what makes the offer so limited and so competitive. The city is handing out 350 seats for a race that draws far more people than it can possibly hold near the line, and Grandstand tickets normally start at $55. Mamdani said the point is to make sure more New Yorkers can experience the crowd and the final push to the tape, not just the runners who make it there.
Rob Simmelkjaer said the marathon is marking the 50th anniversary of its five-borough course and called the finish-line view one of the event’s most powerful moments. The race itself was first run in 1970, and New York Road Runners now produces 60 annual adult and youth races, making this giveaway part of a broader push to bring more people into the sport. What remains unanswered is how many New Yorkers will try their luck before the deadline, but the window to find out is already open.
