Fifth Avenue will shut down for runners again on September 13, as New York Road Runners hosts the 45th edition of the New Balance 5th Avenue Mile, drawing 15 Olympians, 18 international medalists from 12 countries, and a Broadway cast list that includes Tony winners lacing up sneakers instead of costumes. More than 8,600 runners are expected to take part in the one-mile race through Manhattan.
According to ABC7 New York, the elite women's field includes Jemma Reekie, Elise Cranny, Melissa Courtney-Bryant, Courtney Frerichs, Kayley DeLay, Susan Ejore-Sanders and Heather MacLean, with Frerichs entering as an Olympic medalist. The men's side features Leonard Bett, Stefan Nillessen, Adam Spencer, Luke Houser, Olli Hoare and Simon Koech. The race takes place on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, with WABC-TV broadcasting the event from noon to 1 p.m. ET and ESPN+ streaming it nationally.
A Broadway Cast Joins the Starting Line
Beyond the professional heats, the race again includes the Broadway Mile, which returns for its second year after debuting in 2025. The event supports Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and will bring together more than 100 theater professionals, per the same ABC7 report.
Among the performers expected to run are Tony Award winners Nikki James and Ali Louis Bourzgui, along with Keri Rene Fuller, Jeremy Kushnier and Jordan Fisher. The Broadway Mile has become a fixture of the broader event, giving theater fans a chance to see their favorite performers compete on the same closed course as Olympic-caliber milers.
More Than a Pro Race
The 5th Avenue Mile has grown well beyond its elite roots since its founding in 1981, when it began as an invitational event for a small group of top athletes. New York Road Runners notes that the race drew a record 9,277 finishers in 2019 and more than 8,400 finishers across 30 heats in the 2025 edition, reflecting its evolution into one of the organization's signature public participation events.
This year's field again includes several community divisions alongside the professional races: the Media Mile for journalists, the NYPD and FDNY Mile for service members, and the Back to School Mile for children ages 2 to 18. The race also includes a men's one-mile road race for elite competitors, run on the same course as the amateur heats.
A Course Built for Fast Times
The 20-block course runs south along Fifth Avenue from East 80th Street near the Metropolitan Museum of Art to East 60th Street at Grand Army Plaza, according to New York Road Runners. It features a slight downhill in the first quarter-mile, an uphill second quarter, and a flat final five-block sprint past landmarks along Central Park.
That layout has produced some of the fastest mile times in the world, though none can count as official World Athletics road mile world records. Per Wikipedia, the point-to-point Manhattan route exceeds international downhill elevation drop limits set for record ratification, meaning fast Fifth Avenue times are classified as event records rather than world records.
The current benchmarks were set in recent years. Great Britain's Josh Kerr broke the men's course record in September 2024 with a time of 3:44.3, shattering the 3:47.52 mark Sydney Maree set at the race's 1981 debut. On the women's side, Great Britain's Laura Muir ran 4:14.8 to set the record in 2022, a time later matched by U.S. Olympian Karissa Schweizer when she won in 2024, according to CITIUS Mag.
Last Year's American Sweep
Heading into this year's race, last September's edition still looms large. Americans Yared Nuguse and Gracie Morris won the 44th edition in 2025, with Nuguse clocking 3:47.7 and Morris running 4:15.5, completing the first U.S. sweep of the professional divisions since 2016, as reported by Athletics Weekly. A record 23 men finished under four minutes in that race.
Prize money remains a driver of the aggressive early pacing that has become a hallmark of the event. The race offers $32,000 in total prize money across open and member divisions, including $5,000 for each professional winner and $1,000 halfway prime bonuses for leaders who reach the half-mile mark under specific time thresholds — sub-4:00 for men and sub-4:32 for women, according to Marathon Handbook.
Records and Legacy on Fifth Avenue
American Jenny Simpson holds the record for the most victories in race history with eight titles won between 2011 and 2019, while New Zealand's Nick Willis holds the men's record with five wins. Those career marks trace back to the race's unusual origin story: when New York Road Runners founded the event in September 1981, the inaugural field featured South African NCAA champion Sydney Maree, who was granted clearance to compete despite international athletic boycotts against South Africa during apartheid.
New York Road Runners also maintains a nonbinary gender division across its major events, including the 5th Avenue Mile, with dedicated scoring and prize money eligibility established in 2021. Hoodline has previously covered NYRR's eligibility rules in the context of its broader prize divisions.
