While thousands hit the pavement in the New York City marathon, even more are cheered on runners from the sidelines.

The route took runners from Staten Island across the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn before they eventually crossed the finish line in Central Park.

Brandi White, a 2014 NYC marathon runner, says she sprained her Achilles around mile 20 when she ran. She told News 12 that hearing the cheers from the crowd encouraged her to keep going, underscoring what the support from the crowd can do.

This year, Eritrea's Ghirmay Ghebreslassie and Kenya's Mary Keitany took first-place titles in the race.

Keitany became the first woman to win three straight titles since Grete Waltz won five straight from 1982 to 1986. She pulled away around the 15th mile and finished with an unofficial time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, 26 seconds - one second behind her time last year.

Ghebreslassie finished his debut in New York with a time of 2:7:51.