First I have to say, that I traveled from Germany. So, the whole rating relies on traveling from overseas for this race.

Side-note:
I won my bib thru the lottery. So I had a bit luck to run these race. I stayed at a La Guardia Airport Hotel, and everything was accessable from there. Even the early busses at the marathon day.

EXPO:
I liked the location of these EXPO. It was , so it was big enough for all the people of the biggest run in the world. I went there at the first day to get the full selection of merchandise. It was pretty easy to get the bib and the race shirt. Than I walked thru the merchandise booth and found some nice shirts, too. Plan with enough time to enjoy the expo and get some nice pictures there.

26.2
This race will start early in the morning with a bus ride or with the ferry. You have to go to Staten Island. I was there around 6am. the races starts at 10am. So, its a lot of time to wait there. Bring warm clothes with you. You will get coffee and bagels there for free(2014). You can walk thru Fort Wadsworth to meet other people. But you should speak about a meeting point before. When you head to the corrals, you will walk to theVerrazano-Narrows Bridge . The marathon starts with the biggest incline of the whole run, and you will follow the highway for a few miles. The next borrow is Brooklyn. The crowds of cheering people will push you thru until you entered Queens. You should collect some energy for the next bridge, because you have to run over the Queensboro bridge to enter Manhattan. This part was really hard for me, because the miles on the 1st avenue were straight and you can see all the houses in the urban canyon for miles. At the end you will run the 1st ave up to the Bronx over the last bridges of the day. But don't think, Manhattan is flat. You will feel what I mean, when you ran the last miles at/in the Central Park. But the cheering will make you light and they are caring you to the finish line. Here you will get the big bling and an emergency blanket. After walking another mile behind the finish line will will also get the blue poncho, if you did not given up a gear bag. Enjoy your finished run and join the crowd of surfs walking thru NYC. Wear you rmedal proud.

Conclusion:
I will definitely do that races again, ich I get abib thru the lottery. And I will recommend it to others as well. I liked to run the biggest marathon in the world.