Getting to the NYC Marathon Start

I am tentatively choosing to take public transportation to the marathon start. Dawn and I plan to take a trial-run of this system the day before the race:

1. Walk 0.5 mi to PATH Pavonia/Newport Station (15 minutes)
2. Journal Square-33rd Street line (yellow line) to Christopher Street PATH Station (14 minutes) Every 30 minutes from 2:50-6:45 (2:50, 3:20, 3:50, and so forth)
3. Walk two blocks to IRT Christopher Street-Sheridan Square Station (10 minutes?)
4. 1-2-3 (#1 red train) to South Ferry Station (~15 minutes) Every 20 minutes until 10:00 (approximately 4:08, 4:28, 5:08, and so forth)
5. Walk to South Ferry Terminal (5 minutes?)
6. NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry to St. George Ferry Terminal (25 minutes) Every 60 minutes (5:30, 6:30, and so forth)
   
7. MTA bus S51 to South Beach stop (17 minutes) Every 30 minutes after 5:00 (5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and so forth)
8. Walk two blocks to marathon staging area (5 minutes)

Approximate time: 106 minutes (1:46), so roughly 2-2:30 hours I'm guessing depending on business, lateness, waiting, and so forth. Used the Sunday timetables for calculations.

Official MTA marathon viewing PDF.

I *heart* efficient public transportation.

UPDATE: MTA Service advisories due to marathon? due to ongoing construction. x_x What we'll probably do instead is take PATH to the 23rd Street PATH station and walk 0.4 mi from Avenue of the Americas to the 23rd Street Station at Park Avenue South. From there we take the 4-5-6 (#4 green train) to Bowling Green and walk to the South Ferry Terminal.

UPDATE #2: The PDF of the subway map shows how PATH trains intersect with the subways. So instead I think we'll take PATH to the 14th Street PATH Station, hop on the B-D-F-V (F orange line) to the Broadway-Lafayette Street Station, then transfer to the 4-5-6 (#4 green train) to Bowling Green and walk to the South Ferry Terminal.

UPDATE #3: This seems easier: PATH Pavonia-Newport to PATH World Trade Center Station. Walk 0.3 mi to Rector Street Station and take shuttle buses to South Ferry Station.

1. Walk 0.5 mi to PATH Pavonia/Newport Station (15 minutes)
2. Journal Square-33rd Street line (yellow line) to PATH Grove Station (3 minutes; runs every 30 minutes until 07:12; 01:01, 01:31, 02:01, and so forth)
   
3. Newark-World Trade Center (red line) to World Trade Center Station ( 7 minutes; runs every 30 minutes until 07:00; 03:15, 03:45, 04:15, and so forth)
4. Walk 0.3 mi to Rector Street Station (15 minutes)
   
5. Shuttle buses to South Ferry Station (30 minutes?)
   
6. Walk to South Ferry Terminal (5 minutes?)
7. NYCDOT Staten Island Ferry to St. George Ferry Terminal (25 minutes) Begins boarding at 5:00 a.m. and every half hour between 6:00 and 8:00 a.m.
   
8. MTA bus S51 to South Beach stop (17 minutes) Every 30 minutes after 5:00 (5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and so forth)
9. Walk two blocks to marathon staging area (5 minutes)

Based on a quick check it appears about a four to five hour trip to the start from Jersey City given the early Sunday service frequency. Dawn and I will test this on Saturday.

I *heart* redundant public transportation.