Scenes from the 2022 New York City Marathon

From Bay Ridge to Greenpoint, Brooklyn spread the love for Sunday’s runners

The New York City Marathon was back to pre-pandemic strength on Sunday, with some 50,000 runners making the 26.2 mile journey though all five boroughs, from Staten Island to Central Park in Manhattan. The longest stretch cut a path through Brooklyn, traversing 11 miles of Kings County territory from Bay Ridge, through Sunset Park, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint.

The professional women enter Brooklyn (Scott Lynch)

As usual, the course was lined the whole way with cheering throngs. There was loud music, high fives from little kids, encouraging (and sarcastic) signs, and the police-tape barricades were treated more like a suggestion as the crowds spilled off the sidewalk and into the streets.

Tootin’ for the scootin’ (Scott Lynch)

Brooklyn came out in full force, and gave the city’s sweaty running heroes a rowdy good time. And it was, indeed, sweaty. With the temperature hitting 74 degrees, it was the hottest marathon ever run since the race switched to November in 1986.

Hydration station: Sunday’s was one of the hottest races on record (Scott Lynch)

Right off the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, runners got their first taste of Brooklyn, with the iconic “Yo!” sign that’s been hung every Marathon day for about 25 years by the Langon family, who’ve lived on Dahlgren Place since the 1970s.

Stephen Langon and his family’s iconic sign welcome the runners to Brooklyn (Scott Lynch)

“My dad made this sign,” Stephen Langon tells Brooklyn Magazine. “Unfortunately my parents aren’t with us anymore, but in honor of Pop I still always put it up. It just reminds me of my parents and reminds me of the beauty of the marathon, and the participation from people around the world. They all stop to take pictures of the sign. I will always be out here to cheer them on.”

The long and wide Fourth Avenue thoroughfare sets the scene remains a great conduit for families to post up and cheer. The energy really kicks in around Atlantic Avenue though, and once the runners make the turn on Lafayette it’s pretty much a non-stop party to the Pulaski Bridge.

Lots of pop-culture references on Fourth Avenue in Park Slope (Scott Lynch)

The most crowded, most raucous, part of the race has to be the mile or so of Bedford Avenue that goes through the heart of Williamsburg, with rowdy crew after rowdy crew blasting music. “Donut Mile” in Greenpoint, where the legendary Peter Pan passes out donut holes, is another solid cheerleading spot.

Peter Pan donut holes (Scott Lynch)

There were some actual winners of the race itself on Sunday, at the finish line over in Manhattan (Kenyans Sharon Lokedi and Evans Chebet won the women’s and men’s competitions, respectively), but Brooklyn clearly took home the Marathon’s “most fun” award.

As Mara Muccio put it to us at around mile eight: “I’ve lived in Brooklyn for 15 years and every year I watch the Marathon from the same spot and it’s the best energy! We just love the people, the excitement, the borough. The best borough!”

Here are a few more scenes from Sunday’s run: