Running a marathon already demands a particular mix of grit, patience and stubborn endurance.
Choosing to run one in “progressively worse places” requires something else entirely — especially when the course is a 1.38-mile stretch that sends competitors back and forth across the Williamsburg Bridge.
That offbeat concept sparked the Williamsburg Bridge Marathon, an unofficial New York City running event now in its fourth year. There is no permit, no registration fee and, most unusually, no set race distance.
On Friday night, long after sunset, runners gathered on the Manhattan side of the bridge without knowing how many miles they would ultimately be asked to cover.
Only after the start would a random computer-generated number between 10 and 100 appear on the event’s website, telling participants how many bridge spans they needed to complete — and record on the fitness app Strava.
For this year’s Williamsburg Bridge Marathon, the number was 17 spans, or roughly 21.42 miles. To race organizer and founder Matt White, that made for a surprisingly short edition.
“Hopefully the random number generator gives us something harder next time,” White told The Post.
Even with the shorter distance, the race still produced plenty of DNFs — shorthand for “did not finish.” In the end, 13 women and 55 men completed the challenge. Maya Geller won the women’s race in 3:15:04, while Joe Cady topped the men’s field with a time of 2:30:13.
After failing to qualify for the New York City Marathon, White decided on a whim to create his own race.
“We had gone out for drinks the night before, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I bet I can do it,’” the 31-year-old software engineer told BK Reader last year. “I really liked the idea of continuing to do marathons in progressively worse locations.”
The first year, around 20 runners came out. This year, hundreds gathered for the strange event, with race volunteer James Cashen estimating anywhere between 300 and 400 attended for the same reason many people start running — a sense of community.
“To me, the race is special because it represents the best parts of New York and the running community,” Cashen told The Post. “It’s gritty, difficult and continues to build around the energy of fun-loving NYC runners.
Many participants sign up because of the absurd nature of the race, with previous participants leaving reviews like, “Not finishing this race was a win in itself,” and “This is not actually a race — more of a group experience in mutual pain.”
It also speaks to the community-building group running events lends itself to.
“I like that you can go to the bridge at almost any time of day, and there will almost always be groups of people doing radically different things,” White told BK Reader.
Similarly, Nathan Yan ran the course for the first time last year, right after he’d moved to the city, in search of a “high-effort ridiculousness” endurance event where he’d find his people.
“It was one of my very first ‘New York’ experiences,” Yan told The Post. “I just moved from Colorado where [I] used to do things like 36-hour night skiing marathons — so this was right up my alley.”
For this year’s race, Yan didn’t have high hopes of running far with the high humidity and bridge elevation.
So instead, he strapped a 45-pound rig to his back, opting to play DJ for the night and see how far he could go.
While he completed seven bridge spans (9.06 mi), the highlight was continuously passing by people gathered on the bridge, dancing and cheering on the runners pushing to finish.
“I think that’s one of the beautiful things for the format of this marathon: There’s so much back-and-forth between all the runners and support groups, you could be at a PR pace, fun pace or Type II fun pace, but no one ever gets ‘left behind’ on the bridge route,” Yan said.
Yan’s DJ rig was one of first-time Williamsburg Bridge marathoner Kaeli T.’s favorite things about the race. She said the atmosphere and energy were top-notch.
“My favorite part was, hands down, the people who showed up,” the 28-year-old told The Post.
“Someone brought a cake and was sharing slices at the midway point,” she added. “People brought lawn chairs and yoga mats to hang out on the bridge. The vibes overall were fantastic.”
While she was disappointed it wasn’t a full or even ultramarathon, Kaeli was “grateful to get a good night’s sleep after.”
But it was the support from complete strangers that night that stuck out in her mind.
“I had people clapping as I ran past, and this woman shouted ‘Get it, girl!’ at about 12:15 am on her way home from a night out,” Kaeli recalled.
“Those random moments of support are what make running and races so special in general.”
Cashen agrees with the sentiment that races, especially the unusual ones, embody what running should be about.
“Having fun, not taking yourself too seriously and putting yourself up to challenges you think may be too steep and learning to overcome them,” he explained.
