manhattan skyline, statue of liberty, and the waterfront
By PaceKit Team · Updated April 2026
The Jersey City Marathon has one visual asset that no other marathon in the country can match: the Manhattan skyline, directly across the Hudson River, visible for significant stretches of the course.
The start area in Newport sits along the Jersey City waterfront, and from the first miles, you can see lower Manhattan, the Freedom Tower, and the full downtown skyline reflecting off the river. It's not a fleeting glimpse. It's a sustained, panoramic view that accompanies you through the waterfront sections of both loops. On a clear April morning, with the sun coming up behind Manhattan, the skyline is dramatic in a way that photos on the race website can't fully convey.
The Statue of Liberty is visible from parts of the course, particularly as you head south toward Liberty State Park and Caven Point Road. The view isn't as close or as sustained as the skyline (runners have noted that trees and buildings partially obstruct the view, and several reviewers wished the course went deeper into Liberty State Park for a better angle). But it's there, visible between gaps in the landscape, and seeing Lady Liberty while running a marathon is a specific kind of experience that doesn't happen anywhere else.
Beyond the marquee views, the course takes you through a cross-section of Jersey City that reflects the city's identity: the Powerhouse Art District (galleries and converted industrial spaces), the Historic Paulus Hook District (brownstones and cobblestone streets), waterfront promenades, residential neighborhoods, and yes, some industrial stretches and rough roads that are decidedly less photogenic. Jersey City is not a manicured race venue. It's a real city with real character, and the course reflects that range honestly.
The waterfront sections are the visual highlights. The residential and industrial sections are the working miles. And the skyline is the constant: a 1,776-foot reminder, visible across the river, that you're running 26.2 miles in the shadow of the most famous skyline in the world. That's not nothing.