Prospect Park climbs in the first 7 miles. Flat Ocean Parkway for the next 5. A finish on the Coney Island Boardwalk. Enter your goal time and get hill-adjusted splits for all 13.1 miles.
The park section is only 7 miles, but it contains all of the climbing on this course. Runners who push through the uphill miles too hard arrive at Ocean Parkway with tired legs and nowhere to recover on 5 miles of flat pavement.
This calculator helps you solve that problem by giving you an exact, step-by-step plan built on research, experience, and data. Enter your goal time, set how aggressively you want to treat uphills, and you'll get a target pace for each of the 15 course segments — accounting for every foot of elevation change from the Brooklyn Museum to the Coney Island Boardwalk.
Enter your goal time and effort level. Your personalized mile-by-mile splits appear instantly.
| Mile | Elev | Effort | vs Goal Pace | Target Pace (min/mi) |
Pace Bank | Elapsed |
|---|
Elevation data from official NYRR course map. Uphill penalty applied above +0.4% grade; downhill benefit applied below −0.75% grade. Math closes exactly to goal time.
13.1 miles through four distinct zones, each one demanding a different strategy.
Mile 1 starts at the Brooklyn Museum and climbs about 30 feet toward Grand Army Plaza. It's gentle, but it's uphill, and 25,000 people around you will be going too fast. Resist the crowd.
Miles 2 and 3 roll through the northern end of Prospect Park. The terrain is active but manageable. Nothing steep enough to call a real hill, but enough grade change to make even pacing tricky. Aim to feel controlled, not fast.
Mile 4 builds slightly again. By here you've climbed about 55 feet net. The park's real climb is ahead, and your legs should still feel fresh.
Around mile 4.5 you hit Prospect Park Hill, the course's one real climb. It's long and gradual enough that you can't quite see the top when you start it, but the grade isn't brutal. It gains about 50–60 feet over the approach and crest.
What makes this section matter isn't the hill itself. It's the descent that follows. From the crest to Ocean Parkway at mile 7 you drop about 125 feet in under 2.5 miles. The steep pitch into Ocean Parkway is steep enough to feel it in your quads. Let gravity help without hammering down.
By mile 7 you've done all the real climbing of this race. Everything from here is flat or very gently rolling.
Ocean Parkway is a wide, tree-lined boulevard heading due south through Brooklyn toward the ocean. There's almost nothing to it elevation-wise, about 23 feet of total drop over 5 miles. If you're going to negative split this race, miles 7 through 12 are where you do it.
The spectator situation changes here. Fewer crowds than in Prospect Park, but plenty of pacing targets ahead of you. Pick a runner 200 meters out and slowly close the gap. Then pick another one. This is the Brooklyn Half's engine room.
The avenues counting down toward Coney Island make great mental mile markers. They go alphabetical and then numbered as you approach the finish. When you're past Avenue U you're in the final push.
At mile 12 you turn off Ocean Parkway onto Surf Avenue. The crowd builds here. There's a short ramp up onto the Coney Island Boardwalk that surprises almost everyone. It's about 13 feet of gain right when your legs are empty.
The finish is 200 meters on the wooden boardwalk. The Wonder Wheel is visible above the finish arch from a quarter mile out. Wooden slats underfoot feel different from road racing, but the crowd noise and the visual spectacle pull most runners through faster than they expected. It's one of the better finish line settings in American running.
May in Brooklyn can range from a cool morning to a warm-weather race. Plan for both.
| Year | Start Temp | Finish Temp | Humidity | Wind | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 56°F / 13°C | 70°F / 21°C | 55% | 8 mph S | Ideal |
| 2023 | 63°F / 17°C | 76°F / 24°C | 68% | 10 mph SE | Warm |
| 2022 | 54°F / 12°C | 67°F / 19°C | 50% | 7 mph S | Ideal |
| 2021 | Race canceled (COVID-19 protocols) | ||||
| 2019 | 67°F / 19°C | 79°F / 26°C | 72% | 9 mph S | Warm |
Start temps are approximate for 7:00 AM at Grand Army Plaza. Ocean winds from the south are common on Ocean Parkway. A headwind on race day adds seconds per mile that the elevation calculator doesn't account for. Check the forecast on race week.
What the course gives you, and what it asks for in return.
Brooklyn is one of the better PR setups in the Northeast. The net elevation drop of 95 feet, 5 miles of flat pavement on Ocean Parkway, and a well-organized large field with pace groups at most common targets make it structurally favorable for fast times.
The course record tells you the ceiling: the women's record is 1:08:40 and the men's is 1:01:13. Average finish time for the open field runs around 2:05–2:10, which tracks with conditions. Most years are solid for racing, with warm ones scattered in.
Ocean Parkway from mile 7 to mile 12 is as good as road racing gets for locking in goal pace. Wide lanes, consistent footing, slight net downhill, and enough competitors ahead to chase. Runners who hold back in Prospect Park regularly run the last 6 miles faster than the first 7. A real negative split is genuinely achievable here.
The finish on the Coney Island Boardwalk is motivating in a way that park finishes and road finishes usually aren't. The crowd energy and the visual spectacle of the boardwalk, wooden planks, ocean light, and the Wonder Wheel overhead, tend to pull runners through the last quarter mile faster than they expected.
Pacing discipline in Prospect Park is the primary requirement. Miles 1–7 have all of the course's real climbing, and race-day energy combined with the descent into Ocean Parkway makes it easy to go out too fast. Runners who negative split this race do so because they treated the park as a warmup, not a race.
Weather is the other variable. Brooklyn in May can be ideal: mid-50s at the gun, dry air, light winds. Or it can show up at 67°F with south winds and 70% humidity, as it did in 2019. On a warm day, adjust your goal time by 1–2 minutes rather than fighting conditions in Prospect Park.
| Category | Record | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Women's Open | 1:08:40 | 2017 |
| Men's Open | 1:01:13 | 2019 |
| Women's Masters (40+) | 1:15:22 | 2018 |
| Men's Masters (40+) | 1:06:47 | 2016 |
Records approximate. Check nyrr.org for official course records.
Everything you need from start line to Coney Island boardwalk.
The Brooklyn Half uses a wave start from the Brooklyn Museum on Eastern Parkway. Waves go off starting at 7:00 AM, separated by a few minutes each. Your assigned corral is based on your predicted finish time from registration.
NYRR members in good standing may be eligible for earlier corrals. Check your bib confirmation for your specific wave time. Arriving after your wave has already started creates corralling headaches.
The Brooklyn Museum is the start line. Subway access is solid: the 2/3 trains stop at Eastern Pkwy-Brooklyn Museum, and the B/Q at 7th Ave is a 10-minute walk. There's no car access to Eastern Parkway on race morning.
NYRR runs official shuttles from select locations. Check the race website for the current year's shuttle routes and pickup times. Shuttles are reliable and worth using if you're coming from Manhattan.
Bag check is available at the start near the Brooklyn Museum. NYRR provides clear plastic bags on-site, but having your own labeled bag speeds up the process. Your checked bag is transported to the finish line on the Coney Island Boardwalk.
Since this is a point-to-point race, whatever you want at the finish needs to go in your checked bag. Plan for a change of clothes and layers. The boardwalk can be significantly windier and cooler than the race start temperature.
NYRR provides water and Gatorade Endurance Formula at stations roughly every 2 miles. Science in Sport gels are available at a designated gel zone around mile 8 on Ocean Parkway.
For a half marathon, most runners need 1–2 gels depending on pace. Carry your preferred nutrition if your stomach is sensitive on race-day products.
The finish is on the Coney Island Boardwalk near W 16th Street. After crossing, you'll walk along the boardwalk past the finish area to the bag claim and family reunion zone. It's spread out. Give yourself extra time if you have family meeting you.
The boardwalk finish is exposed and often windy. The mylar blankets NYRR hands out at the finish are worth putting on immediately. The wind off the ocean cools you down faster than expected after a half marathon.
There's a post-race festival area on the boardwalk with food, sponsor activations, and the best people-watching in NYC running. Luna Park and the beach are steps away if you want to make a day of it.
Getting home: the D/F/N/Q trains at Coney Island-Stillwell Ave are the primary option. Trains fill fast after the race. NYRR sponsor shuttles return from the finish and are worth it if you're heading to Manhattan.
Two-part answer. Miles 1–7 through Prospect Park have real rolling terrain, about 88 feet of total climbing concentrated around the main park hill at mile 4.5. From mile 7 to the Coney Island Boardwalk, the course is flat. Net elevation for the full 13.1 miles is about −95 feet. The hills won't end your race. Going out too fast on them will.
For most runners, yes. The net downhill of 95 feet helps, Ocean Parkway is a genuine negative-split opportunity, and the large field means you'll have pacing company at nearly any target time. The primary risk is pacing the park too aggressively. Runners who treat miles 1–6 as controlled effort and miles 7–13 as goal pace generally run their best times here. The calculator on this page gives you the splits to do exactly that.
Long, flat, and wide. Ocean Parkway runs straight south through Brooklyn neighborhoods for about 5 miles with almost no grade change. The spectator support is lighter here than in the park, which some runners find mentally challenging. Treat the quiet as a gift: get into a locked-in rhythm and sustain it without navigating crowds or turns. Count the avenue markers down toward Coney Island to stay focused.
The calculator uses official NYRR course elevation data to compute hill-adjusted paces for each of the 15 segments. The biggest adjustments are on miles 4.5 and 5, where the park climb and descent create the largest pace swings on the course. Enter your goal time and you'll get mile-by-mile splits where the math closes exactly to your goal. What the calculator doesn't account for: wind on Ocean Parkway, warm weather, and the boardwalk ramp at mile 12.8.
