NYCRUNS Brooklyn Experience Marathon & Half Marathon

The heart of Brooklyn. Brooklyn is part of New York City but would be the third most populous city if each borough were its own city–and the largest of the New York City boroughs. (Brooklyn would trail only Los Angeles and Chicago in population.) Starting at McCarren Park in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, the half marathon course continues south through Williamsburg along Kent Avenue, where runners can take in the water and views of Manhattan.
The course continues along the Navy Yard before heading into the DUMBO neighborhood. Short for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”, the area anchored itself first as an artistic area, then as a technology hub. This section of the course takes runners under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges before heading south into downtown Brooklyn and toward Prospect Park.
Run through history. Opened to the public in 1867 and designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, the legendary landscape architects who also designed Manhattan’s Central Park and a number of public parks, university campuses, Prospect Park today spans 585 acres and is home to thousands of things to do for Brooklynites, from fishing and boating in its lakes to running, biking and tennis, as well as its Carousel and Prospect Park Zoo.
You’ll get to take all that in as you make your way around the park during the race, where you’ll reach the outer border of the park just past mile 7. But there’s more exploring to be done before entering the park. After a brief out-and-back along Eastern Parkway, runners make the turn and head back toward the park, all the way to Washington Avenue, where they turn again (right) to head south along the park’s eastern edge.
Once you’ve made the turn, the race heads south along Ocean Avenue and then Parkside Avenue, where you’ll enter the grounds of Prospect Park and begin the final few miles of the race, which unfold entirely within the park along East Drive and West Drive, before bringing you across the finish line on Center Drive.
The Brooklyn Half Marathon is frequented by such running celebrities like Ellie Kemper, Nev Schulman, Tiki Barber, and Casey Neistat.