Weather, route, celebrities, defending champions set for chilly weather

More than 50,000 runners from around the world have converged on the Big Apple and are set to take on NYC’s rough asphalt streets for the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Forecasts indicate that competitors will be treated with sunny skies during the race and experience temperatures of 45 degrees at 8 a.m. with a high of 57 expected at 3 p.m. across New York City’s five boroughs, according to Fox Weather.

Perfect running temperatures are believed to be between 40 and 60 degrees.

“If temperatures are a little bit cooler, around 45 degrees, it’s found that runners run faster and have a faster overall time,” Fox Weather Meteorologist Stephen McCloud told The Post last year. “Coolish type weather favors runners.”

The day’s festivities begin in Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island when the starting gun goes off for the professional wheelchair division at 8 a.m. followed by the handcycle category and Select Athletes with Disabilities at 8:22.

The professional Women’s open division begins its race for glory at 8:35 a.m. while the professional Men take off at 9:05 a.m.

Five amateur waves go off every 35 minutes starting at 9:10 a.m. and ending at 11:30 a.m.

NYC Marathon course

Runners will traverse the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge en route to Brooklyn where they will run roughly 11 and a half miles through the borough before crossing into Queens and getting on the Queensboro Bridge.

Once across into Manhattan at mile marker 16, runners will travel through the Upper East Side on First Ave, before running over the Harlem River for a brief 1.5-mile dash in the Bronx before returning to the island of Manhattan.

The final five miles see the course go down Fifth Ave and into Central Park where they will cross the finish line, completing the grueling 26.2-mile race.

In April, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul nixed a “cash grab” plan from the MTA that looked to charge marathon organizers a $750,000 toll for shutting down the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge during the world-famous race.

“I’ve directed the MTA to fix this mess and allow the marathon to move forward as it always has,” Hochul told The Post at the time.

“The marathon is an iconic symbol of New York City’s tenacity and resilience that unites communities across the five boroughs each fall.”

Defending NYC Marathon Champions

Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya will defend their titles after winning the 2023 marathon last year.

Tola set the course record of 2:04:58 in his win and later won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics with a time of 2:06:26.

“I’m excited to defend my title in New York, especially coming off an Olympic-record marathon performance,” Tola told WorldAthletics.org. “The hilly course and crowds in Paris definitely prepared me well for the bridges and spectators in New York, where maybe I can go even faster this year.”

Tola faces tough competition in the men’s category as two-time Olympic medalist Bashir Abdi joins a crowded field of decorated runners that includes three past NYC Marathon winners, all from Kenya.

Evans Chebet, the 2022 champion is joined by countrymen, Albert Korir, the 2021 winner, and Geoffrey Kamworor, who was victorious in 2017 and 2019.

On the women’s side, Obiri, who earned bronze at this year’s Olympics, won her title in 2:27:23.

Last year, Obri became the first female in 34 years to win the Boston Marathon and the NYC Marathon in the same calendar year. She defended her title in Boston in April.

“There’s no place like New York, and I am so ready to defend my title,” Obiri told World Athletics. “I have been racing very well on the roads in the US, and I hope I can have another good day that sees me in contention once we enter the final stages in Central Park.”

Obiri is joined by fellow countrywomen Sharon Lokedi, 2022 winner, and Edna Kiplagat, 2010 champion.

Queens resident Joel Kaufman returns to the course a year after making a name for his placement — on the complete opposite end of the results sheet of Tola and Obiri.

Kaufman’s race time of 8 hours, 43 minutes and 34 seconds just after 8 p.m. marked him the dead last finisher for last year’s event.

“I got a call the next day from New York Road Runners,” Kaufman told The Post about the organization that produces the 26.2-mile race. “[They] said, ‘You’re the official last finish.’ I said, ‘That is so great. I got a title that nobody can take away from me.’ It’s not like being the 57,000th finisher.”

Kaufman, who has walked the race for the past decade to support people battling leukemia and lymphoma blood cancers, had a pace of 19 minutes and 59 seconds per mile.

The 66-year-old retired high school math teacher who goes by “Whammy” will be back for Sunday’s marathon — and will start at 9:10 a.m. alongside the three-hour marathoners as a nod to his inspirational story.

NYC Marathon celebrity participants

The NYC Marathon isn’t just about the high-level competition, it also features a star-studded lineup of celebrities including actors, singers, comedians, politicians and TV personalities.

Actors Randall Park, Nev Schulman, Claire Holt and Carrie St. Louis will all run for different charities and organizations.

Schulman, the host of MTV’s “Catfish”, is running the race despite breaking his neck in August during a bike crash that forced him to undergo emergency spine surgery.

Former ‘GMA’ hosts turned lovers Amy Robach and TJ Holmes are taking on their second NYC Marathon as a couple while “The Jersey Shore’s” Vinny Guadagnino and a slew of “The Bachelor” stars run in the race.

The 2023 Marathon saw 51,453 finishers from 148 countries and an average time of 4:39:47.

Over $520 million was raised for charity from the race.