Each March, New York Road Runners closes off a swath of Brooklyn and Manhattan for one of the largest half marathons in the country: a point-to-point course that starts near Prospect Park, crosses the East River, and finishes inside Central Park. Currently sponsored by United Airlines and commonly called the United Airlines NYC Half, the race is one of NYRR's three marquee races, drawing a field that rivals many full marathons. This guide covers what the race actually involves — the route, how registration works, what the weather tends to do in mid-March, and who tends to get the most out of running it.
A Brooklyn-to-Manhattan course, not a loop
The course starts on Washington Avenue near the Brooklyn Museum, close to the northern end of Prospect Park. Runners spend the opening miles inside the park, including a climb up Battle Pass Hill, before exiting near Grand Army Plaza and heading down Flatbush Avenue past the Barclays Center. Since 2025, the race has crossed into Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge — a first for any NYRR race, and a change from the Manhattan Bridge crossing used in earlier editions — before picking up the FDR Drive along the East River for several miles. Runners exit the FDR around 42nd Street, pass near Grand Central Terminal, and turn onto Seventh Avenue for a run through Times Square, one of the only two days a year the intersection closes to traffic. The final stretch enters Central Park at its Grand Army Plaza entrance and finishes on West Drive near the 72nd Street Transverse. Because the route has changed materially in recent years, it's worth checking NYRR's current course map close to race day rather than relying on older recaps.
How to get into the race
The default way in is NYRR's non-guaranteed drawing, which — like the marathon's lottery — splits applicants into separate pools by residency rather than running one combined drawing. Runners with a faster route in mind have a few options: NYRR's 4 Out of 6 program grants guaranteed entry to members who complete four qualifying NYRR races in the prior year, time qualifiers who hit published age-and-gender standards at an NYRR half or marathon earn guaranteed entry outright, and a limited number of qualifying-time spots are open to runners who hit those standards at a non-NYRR half marathon. Charity partnerships and official international tour packages offer additional guaranteed paths for runners who'd rather not rely on the drawing or a fast time. Because NYRR revisits these programs from year to year, it's worth reading the full breakdown in RaceRove's dedicated lottery and registration guide for this race before you plan around any one path.
Race weekend basics
Race week typically includes a multi-day expo for bib pickup — the most recent edition moved to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center for the first time, the same venue as the marathon's expo — plus optional bag check under NYRR's clear-bag rules and security screening before you enter the start area in Brooklyn. Corral and wave assignment is based on your submitted or on-file pace, with the option to submit a faster qualifying half-marathon time for reassignment ahead of a published deadline if you've run one recently. Given the scale of road closures across Brooklyn and Manhattan on race morning, plan to arrive at your corral well before your wave's start time, and expect the subway to be far more reliable than driving or ride-shares near either the start or finish.
March timing and race-day conditions
The race is scheduled for mid-March, positioned by NYRR as the unofficial kickoff to the city's spring racing season — which means conditions can swing widely from one year to the next. Recent editions have started in the mid-30s to low-40s Fahrenheit, with cloud cover and a real chance of wind, particularly on the Brooklyn Bridge and along the exposed FDR Drive stretch by the East River. Some years bring a crisp, sunny morning well suited to a fast time; others bring rain, raw wind chill, or a late-winter cold snap. Layering with throwaway clothing at the start, and being ready for conditions to shift over the several hours it takes the full field to finish, is standard practice among experienced entrants.
Who this race suits
The United Airlines NYC Half draws a genuinely mixed field: elite athletes racing for prize money at the front, competitive age-groupers chasing a fast time on a course that's flatter than the marathon but not flat, and a large group of runners treating it as a bucket-list tour of two boroughs. Because the finish line stays open for several hours after the last wave starts, the race is workable for a broad range of paces. If you're training in the city beforehand, joining one of New York's running clubs is a common way to get pace-group company and course-specific advice — RaceRove's New York run clubs directory is a reasonable place to start looking.