With less than four weeks to go until race day in the Big Apple, the TCS New York City Marathon has unveiled this year’s finisher medal. If you’re a traditionalist who doesn’t like too much change, good news: the design stays true to last year’s look, but with one notable new feature.
This year’s medal incorporates New York’s course elevation profile as a textured detail across the front, surrounding the glossy gold TCS New York City Marathon logo in the centre. The year 2025 is engraved at the top, maintaining the clean design that runners have come to love.
The newest element is a set of diagonal grooves etched into the surface, which NYRR says echoes the ups and downs runners face from Staten Island to the Central Park finish.
The New York City Marathon is considered one of the toughest of the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors, with 26 turns throughout the course and relentless climbs over the bridges that link each of the five boroughs. Now, the medal itself literally reflects that from Staten Island’s start line incline onto the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to the final push through Manhattan’s Central Park.
With the medal, you can show your friends and family the hills you conquered, and the ones that conquered you.
The reveal has been met with lots of praise on social media, with some racers saying the NYRR “never misses” when it comes to medal design. One commenter even said it “looks like an Olympic gold,” which might be the best compliment a finisher’s medal can get.
On Nov. 2, nearly 60,000 runners will have the chance to earn one at the Central Park finish line. Last year’s race saw 55,640 finishers, setting a world record for the largest marathon (a mark that stood until the 2025 TCS London Marathon broke it this spring).
