As part of our mission to help and inspire people through running, New York Road Runners is pleased to offer a limited number of complimentary race entries through Race Free, a new initiative that provides race fee assistance for NYRR races.

We offer 50 complimentary entries to all of our weekly races, as well as 50 complimentary entries to the TCS New York City Marathon and the NYRR Five-Borough Series races.

Eligibility is based on need (see below). Applicants are asked to provide household income and other information; all applicant information is confidential.

How to Apply

The application is available on a year-round basis; we encourage you to apply anytime by completing and submitting the application below. You will be notified by email within one week of applying.

Apply to Race Free

After You Apply

You will receive an email within one week of submitting an application, notifying you of whether you have been accepted into the program. If you are accepted into the program, you’ll need to create a My NYRR account if you do not already have one.

Random drawings will be held bi-monthly for entry into the races. Please see the schedule below. Participants who are selected will be notified by email and given a unique invitation code to register for the race. All participants will be included in each drawing, except for the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon drawing, for which you will need to opt-in via a survey that will be circulated to all current Race Free participants.

Races Drawing Date May*–June March 5 July-August May 6 September-October July 2

*The 2019 Popular® Brooklyn Half Drawing took place on January 9. All Race Free participants were notified immediately if they were selected or not.

Eligibility

Eligibility is based on need.

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older and must be residents of New York state.

Accepted runners will automatically be entered into each drawing, with the exception of the TCS New York City Marathon, for which they will have to opt in.

You must reapply to the program annually; runners in the program will receive an email notifying them when to reapply.

If a runner in the program registers for two races and does not notify us that he/she cannot run them, the runner will be removed from the program.

For more information, email racefree@nyrr.org or check out our FAQs.

If you'd like to support this initiative, donate today or contact our development team to learn more.