One hundred runners will trade finish-line medals for croissants this fall when the NYC Bakery Run returns to the streets of New York City on October 25, 2026, sending its lottery-selected pack on a 13.1-mile route that includes ten pastries and a sit-down course at a Michelin three-star dining room. The run is noncompetitive. The only requirement is an appetite.
The event, first run in 2025, is free to enter and fills its 100 spots entirely through random lottery selection, according to Time Out New York. It was created by Simon Evers, founder of the Copenhagen-based food guide TIPSTER, who first dreamed up the concept in Denmark as the Fastelavn Bun Run before exporting the pastry-fueled half-marathon to New York in 2025, according to Mann Publications. TIPSTER now runs curated food guides in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, and New York.
Demand for the run has only intensified since its debut. The event received more than 17,000 applications when it launched in 2025, per the same Time Out account, and when sign-ups first opened in late August that year, more than 5,100 New Yorkers submitted lottery entries within just the first few days, Mann Publications reported. That kind of interest puts the run's acceptance rate below 0.6 percent.
Pace Groups Keep the Pack Together, Not Racing
Applicants can't sign up solo. TIPSTER requires all lottery entrants to register in pairs, meaning the 100 total slots go to 50 pairs of running partners — a structure built to emphasize community over competition, according to the organizer's own event listing on TIPSTER. Once selected, runners are split into three waves, per the same TIPSTER listing. True to the run's spirit, there's no award for crossing the line first.
Along the route, runners hit ten stops at bakeries and pastry destinations, including Librae Bakery, Radio Bakery, La Cabra, From Lucie, L'Appartement 4F, Hani's Bakery, Elbow Bread, and Saison Bakery, per Time Out New York's reporting. Librae Bakery, known for pastries that blend Middle Eastern flavors with Scandinavian baking techniques, was also part of the inaugural 2025 route. Its owner, Dona Murad-Gerschel, said in September that the run offers something distinct by combining ten different baking philosophies into a single 13.1-mile experience, according to a statement carried by PR Newswire.
A Newcomer From Tartine's Cofounder
This year's route also welcomes a newcomer: Altbau Bakery, a forthcoming project from Tartine cofounder Chad Robertson, per Time Out New York's reporting. Danish bakery La Cabra, with its Scandinavian heritage, is also on the route, Mann Publications reported.
Also on the route is L'Appartement 4F. Mann Publications has described Gautier Coiffard as a co-owner of the bakery.
Finishing Inside Eleven Madison Park's Dining Room
The route's marquee stop is Eleven Madison Park, where runners are served a pastry-team course before lunch service begins, per Time Out New York.
“Welcoming runners into our dining room gives us an opportunity to share the work of our pastry team outside the traditional tasting-menu experience,” said Dominique Roy, per Time Out New York's reporting. It's a rare chance for a group of sneaker-clad, mid-run participants to sit down inside one of the city's most decorated dining rooms, however briefly, before lacing back up for the rest of the course.
Runners cover the full 13.1 miles through New York City, stopping to eat along the way rather than racing for time, according to Time Out New York. The timing lines up neatly with the city's autumn running calendar: the run lands one week before the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon on November 1, which is expected to draw nearly 60,000 runners to the city, according to Beet It US. For marathoners in taper week looking for a low-stress, high-carb outing, it doubles as an unofficial send-off.
Those hoping to snag one of the 100 spots this year need to register with a partner by 11:59 p.m. ET on October 14, 2026, with selected runners notified the next day, on October 15, per Time Out New York's reporting. Given last year's odds, the vast majority of applicants should expect to watch the pastry parade from their phones instead.
