2022 TCS New York City Marathon: Opening Ceremony kicks off

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- An Opening Ceremony celebration was held at the finish line of the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon in Central Park Friday to kick off race weekend.

This year's festivities featured the Parade of Nations, a showcase for runners from all over the world, and concluded with fireworks over the finish line.

RELATED: More coverage of the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon

HOW TO WATCH THE TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

Marathon Day in New York is coming up November 6th! The TCS New York City Marathon will be broadcast to more than 530 million homes around the world, with a Spanish language broadcast being produced nationwide for the first time by ESPN.

WABC-TV and ESPN2 have been home to the award-winning broadcast of the world's largest marathon since 2013.

It will be the first Spanish-language broadcast of any marathon to air on ESPN Deportes, airing live on ESPN3 and the App from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and then will re-air on ESPN Deportes from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. EST.

WATCH | NYC Marathon Opening Ceremony serves as reunion for pair of runners

As day turned to night, the sky lit up over Central Park as thousands of runners celebrated the most famous marathon in the world. For two unlikely friends, it was also a happy reunion. Josh Einiger interviewed them.

Joining the talent team for this year's domestic broadcast will be five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and 13-time Paralympic medalist Kurt Fearnley and running reporter Chris Chavez. Fearnley will be in the broadcast booth as a race analyst for all four professional divisions, and Chavez will make his broadcast debut on the men's moto. John Anderson, Lewis Johnson, three-time Olympian and former American record-holder Deena Kastor, Sage Steele, and Olympian Carrie Tollefson will round out the national talent.

The group will be joined by a talented array of reporters at the start, finish, along the course, and in the sky, including ABC7's Eyewitness News reporters Ryan Field, Sam Ryan, Anthony Johnson, Kemberly Richardson, Michelle Charlesworth, Lee Goldberg, Brittany Bell, and Josh Einiger.

The broadcast, produced in coordination with 45 Live and distributed by IMG, will air on ABC7/WABC-TV and ESPN2 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST. Pre-race coverage from Fort Wadsworth begins at 7:00 a.m. EST.

The race will also stream live on the ESPN App nationally from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST.

ALSO WATCH | From Kenya to realizing a marathon dream

Aliphine Tuliamuk has been running since growing up in a village in Kenya where she was inspired by a woman who sparked her love of marathons.

Pre-race and continuing coverage will also be streamed live nationally on ESPN3 (accessible on the ESPN App and ESPN.com) from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ESPN3 will present a view of the finish line from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST.

A two-hour encore presentation of the race broadcast will air on ABC affiliates around the country from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.

The international broadcast will include three-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and four-time British Olympian Paula Radcliffe providing race analysis, alongside veteran track and field commentator Paul Swangard.

International broadcast partners secured by IMG for the race include: FloSports (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom), ESPN Brasil (Brazil), SMG Sports (China), Eurosport (Pan Europe, Pan Asia, India), L'Equipe (France), RAI (Italy), TV Asahi (Japan), Sky Mexico (Mexico), NOS (Netherlands), Sky (New Zealand), SuperSport (Sub-Saharan Africa), ESPN International (South America), and TVE and TV3 (Spain).

WATCH | Teacher takes on the marathon to raise resources and inspire

Teacher John Garvey's hard work training for the TCS NYC Marathon is also inspiring his students to get out of their comfort zone.