The Race Is Not Over at Sundown: New York's Last Marathon Finishers Race a 10 P.M. Clock in Central Park

By the time the sun went down on Sunday, the 2026 New York City Marathon had its champions, its records and its results. It did not have its last finisher. That part of the race runs into the night, and it runs on a clock: official finishers are recorded through 10:00 p.m. Eastern, according to New York Road Runners, and a finisher inside that line gets the medal and the official result listing that the winners got.

The system behind those runners is built to keep them moving, not to clear them away. The course stays open to participants who can hold a 16-minute-per-mile pace; runners on the city-street sections who fall behind it may be asked to board the sweep bus or move to the sidewalks — where, NYRR says, a team of its staff and volunteers supports them on their way to the finish until the official 10 p.m. close.

The night finish is enough of a tradition that the race's last finishers have their own lore. The New York Post's pre-race feature on last-place finishers noted that the race officially closes at 10 p.m. but final finishers can cross well after dark, sometimes close to midnight — and profiled Teresa Hui, last year's penultimate runner, who reached Central Park just before midnight about 15 hours after starting on Staten Island and planned to return this year on forearm crutches, hoping to beat the 10 p.m. clocks.

One practical note for everyone still waiting on a runner tonight: pre-checked bags can be picked up on Central Park West between West 69th and West 70th Streets until 7:00 p.m.; after that, unclaimed bags move to the NYRR RUNCENTER, where they can be collected on Tuesday, November 3, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The finishers themselves exit the park at West 77th Street — champions and last finishers alike, through the same gate.