This Saturday: Here’s What You Need To Know About The Airbnb Brooklyn Half Marathon

Donny Levit -
Photo via airbnb Brooklyn Half

Time to lace’m up! Or cheer on the runners doing the lacing.

The Airbnb Brooklyn Half Marathon takes off at 7am this Saturday, May 21, and the New York Road Runners Club estimates 27,000 runners will be dashing from the Brooklyn Museum all the way down to Coney Island.

While we want the runners to be prepared, this guide will provide viewing tips for those coming out to watch the race, and traffic tips to help you avoid the inevitable street closure headaches.

Runners will start their 13.1-mile journey near the Brooklyn Museum, shoot past the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (whether they stop and smell the roses is up to them), round Grand Army Plaza, and then enter Prospect Park for a loop. After the park loop, the pack heads down Ocean Parkway all the way to the finish line at the Coney Island boardwalk.

Here’s a downloadable map of the entire route.

Photo via denoswonderwheel

We want to help you avoid the traffic snarls. The Department of Transportation has announced the following road closures, which will begin at 7:30am Saturday morning:

Start of race:
  • Eastern Parkway between Grand Army Plaza and Bedford Avenue
  • West 15th Street between Surf Avenue and Boardwalk
Route:
  • Washington Avenue between Eastern Parkway and Empire Boulevard
  • Empire Boulevard between Washington Avenue and Flatbush Avenue
  • Flatbush Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Grand Army Plaza
  • Grand Army Plaza (the entire circle)
  • Ocean Avenue between Flatbush Avenue and Parkside Avenue
  • Parkside Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Park Circle
  • West Lake Drive between East Drive and South Lake Drive
  • South Lake Drive between West Lake Drive and East Lake Drive
  • East Lake Drive between South Lake Drive and East Drive
  • West Drive between East Drive and West Lake Drive
  • Park Circle between South Lake Drive and Ocean Parkway Entrance Ramp
  • Ocean Parkway between Ocean Parkway Entrance Ramp and Surf Avenue
  • Surf Avenue between Ocean Parkway and West 10th Street
  • Boardwalk between West 10th Street and Stillwell Avenue
  • West 10th Street between Surf Avenue and Boardwalk
Other closures:
  • Surf Avenue between West 10th Street and West 19th Street
  • Stillwell Avenue between Surf Avenue and Boardwalk

For those cheering on the almost 54,000 legs passing by, we recommend you pack an umbrella as rain is in the forecast.

And for those of you wanting to track a runner, NYRR has a handy-dandy real-time tracker here.

And to our runners: good luck, stretch, drink water, and enjoy!