Central Park, Oct 26–Nov 1: the blue line Wednesday, the marathon Sunday, and a Halloween with no Halloween in it

Friday’s email ran through the 30th — this one carries the weekend itself.

        Friday’s email ran through the 30th — this one carries the weekend itself.

Marathon week end to end, with perfect weather on top of it: seven days without rain and 75° on Friday. The blue line goes down Wednesday morning, the Opening Ceremony is Friday evening, Saturday is Dash day — and Halloween — and Sunday the marathon finishes in the park.

Weather this week

Sunny every day with 0% rain through Saturday: 69°, 60°, 61°, 69°, 75°, 70°, and 69° Sunday with a slight shower chance. Friday is the warmest day since early October.

Mon Oct 26 – Tue Oct 27 — the last quiet days

Nothing public beyond the Arsenal exhibits. Monday is 69° and sunny with nothing booked at all — a good one for the Conservatory Garden or the Ramble while the park is still its own.

New Dendrology at the Arsenal Gallery, weekdays 9 AM–5 PM, free, is the indoor standby, and the Wreath Interpretations Open Call runs there all week.

Wed Oct 28, 9–10 AM — the blue line

The TCS NYC Marathon Blue Line Painting Ceremony takes West Drive for one hour, and the ceremony is public.

That blue stripe down the middle of the road, the one that is there all year and that most people never ask about — this is the hour it gets painted. Small, specific, once a year, and you will not find it advertised anywhere.

Thu Oct 29 – Fri Oct 30 — 75°, the Ramble, the Opening Ceremony

Thursday brings a Meetup with Apple at The Pond, 8:30–10 AM.

Friday is 75° and sunny. Two things:

  Woodland Walk: The Ramble, 10 AM from Belvedere Castle — the last Ramble walk before the race, on the week’s best day.
  Marathon Opening Ceremony, 4–7 PM, West Drive.

Iconic Views tour at 2 PM.

Sat Oct 31 — Dash day, and a Halloween with nothing in it

Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K runs 8:45–11 AM, finish at Grand Army Plaza from 8 AM.

And here is a small curiosity: it is Halloween, and the park’s permit calendar has not one Halloween event on it. No parade, no trick-or-treat, nothing. The Village parade takes that crowd and Central Park gets a road race instead — which, for a park that marks almost every other occasion, is genuinely odd.

The afternoon is excellent, 70° and sunny:

  Conservatory Garden Tour at 11 AM.
  Woodland Walk: The North Woods, 10 AM from Dana Discovery Center.
  Seneca Village Tour at 2 PM.
  Model Yacht Racing at Kerbs, 9 AM–3 PM; UnityMarketsNY at Farmers’ Gate, 9–7.

East Meadow closed; 20 private ceremony bookings.

Sun Nov 1 — the TCS New York City Marathon

55,000 runners, 8 AM to 5 PM, finishing in Central Park. The biggest day of the park’s year.

To watch: the finish area around Tavern on the Green, or the last mile up East Drive. It is a genuinely moving thing to stand near the finish for an hour, especially late in the day when the slower runners come through.

To avoid it: go north. The Ravine, the Loch and the North Woods are nowhere near the course and almost nobody thinks to go there on marathon Sunday — it is one of the quietest mornings of the year up there.

The International Folkdancers still hold King Jagiello Plaza, 11 AM–3 PM — shortened from their usual six hours, which is a small sign of how the whole park reorganises itself around the race.

Steady all week

  Bethesda Terrace and Fountain closed all day, every day — permits now run to November 25, a tenth extension.
  Bird Watching with Birding Bob rotating: Strawberry Fields Monday, Loeb Boathouse Thursday and both weekend days, Conservatory Garden Friday.
  No league play on the Great Lawn for a thirteenth week; North Meadow carries 94% of November’s field calendar.

Quick recap

  Wednesday 9 AM: the blue line gets painted on West Drive, publicly.
  Friday is 75° — the warmest day, and the last Ramble walk at 10 AM.
  Saturday: Dash 5K, plus a Halloween with no Halloween event in the park at all.
  Sunday: the marathon. Watch from Tavern on the Green, or go north for quiet.
  Seven days without rain.
  Bethesda Terrace now closed through November 25.

Enjoy the big weekend,
Central Park Guide