30,000+ Runners Race Up FDR Drive to Central Park in Half Marathon

More than 30,000 runners from around the globe raced, ran, jogged, and, in some cases, trudged, from Brooklyn to Central Park, including a rolling journey up the FDR Drive, in the New York Road Runners Club United NYC Half Marathon on Sunday, March 15.

Weather for the event was cool and semi-overcast, with temperatures in the mid-30 for the 7:20 a.m. start of the women’s race and rising to the lower 40s. Runners dress varied as widely as the waves they’d start in, from shorts and singlets, some with hats and gloves added, to those wearing tights, vests and light jackets.

In the elite women’s race, 2025 NYC Marathon winner, Hellen Obiri, 36, of Kenya, bested last year’s champ, Sharon Lokedi, by 37 seconds in a course record 1:06:33. Obiri’s average pace per mile was a brisk 5:04.

In the elite men’s race, South African Adriaan Wildschutt, 27, triumphed in 59:30, leaving the Moroccan-born Amrican, Zouhair Talbi, 30, looking at his heels 11 seconds back. Wildschutt’s winning pace per mile was a near-blazing 4:32.

Though The 2026 course was the same last year, starting on Washington Avenue in Brooklyn and looping through Prospect Park to to arrive at Central Park, the 2025 edition featured one huge change from the event’s prior edition. Because of the ongoing East River Resiliency-related construction along South Street—a hellscape that was barely navigable in 2024—the race went over the Brooklyn Bridge instead of the Manhattan Bridge.

On the ground this means that, instead of taking Flatbush Avenue all the way onto the Manhattan Bridge, it swung left at Tillary Street, passing both FDNY headquarters and McLaughlin Park. Named for a Hugh McLaughlin (1827-1904), a renowned figure in New York state politics, the Brooklyn-born son of Irish immigrants was the unelected leader of the powerful Brooklyn Democratic machine from the 1860s until his death.

While crossing the Brooklyn Bridge is a wondrous and iconic experience, the race’s absence from Canal Street, where the Manhattan Bridge route lets out, and the energy of Chinatown remains unfortunate.

Also unfortunate this year was that even more East Side resiliency work which has closed John V. Lindsay Park includes the East River Track. These closures meant that the course, which heads up the northbound FDR Drive, was now inaccessible at Houston Street. This meant, unless one wanted to shout encouragement from the east side of the FDR access road, they had to head north up Avenue C and cross under the highway at East 16th Street.

The loss of this East River Park cheering section, which includes a large chunk of mile seven to mile eight was palpable, as were the many happy and creative signs that previously lined the highway.

On the positive side, from the runners’ perspective, the Brooklyn Bridge is both more scenic and a somewhat easier climb than the Manhattan, while the reduction of sharp turns to enter the FDR makes the route marginally faster.

**

The FDR Drive itself—all four miles of it—is quite interesting. While in a car, it’s the road’s curves that are notable, on foot it’s the slightly rolling inclines that, for runners–who started too quickly or bombed the downhill off the Brooklyn Bridge too fast–can fall apart.

Still, most people powered through and, inspired by the crowds that lined the course north of Stuy Town and again on 42nd Street and 7th Avenues, powered through to the finish. Notable among the cheering sections were numerous Irish fans, showing off their leprechun spirit before Tuesday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade; the NYPD Running Club and the upper Manhattan-based Dyckman Run Club.

In the elite women’s race, Hellen Obiri and Sharon Lokedi burned off the field before they even left the Brooklyn Bridge. Obiri made her winning surge just before the 15km mark, after which she never faltered.

The men’s race was deeper and more competitive, with a pack of nine runners coming off the FDR and onto 42nd Street. By the time they reached Seventh Avenue, Adriaan Wildschuut was pulling away and nobody would catch him.

Among local runners, the phenom that is Felicia Pasadyn, 23, was the first Manhattan woman, finishing 16th in 1:11:59, at a 5:30 mile pace. A former Division 1 college swimmer, Pasdyn was also the first local woman to finish in last November’s New York City Marathon.

On the men’s side, the first Manhattanite was Owen Ritz, a former track and cross country runner for Dartmouth College who today works as an Equity Analyst for Allen & Company. Ritz’s finishing time of 1:06:45—a 5:06 mile pace—was good for 32nd place.