Almgren and Chepkirui Claim New York City Marathon Titles

Andreas Almgren of Sweden captured the men's title in his debut at the New York City Marathon on Sunday. The 26.2-mile race marked the 50th year the event has traversed all five boroughs of the city.

Almgren crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second. His time ranks as the third fastest in the course's 50-year history. The top seven finishers all posted times that place them in the top 10 all-time list. Almgren became the first runner to win their debut in the event since Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia in 2010.

In the closing mile, Almgren separated from Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy to secure the victory. Crippa finished 13 seconds behind. Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho took third place, finishing ahead of defending champion Benson Kipruto. American Zouhair Talbi finished sixth and recorded the fastest time ever by a U.S. man in this marathon.

Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the women's race for the second time. She had previously won the title in 2024. Chepkirui finished in 2:24:36 after pulling away from Hellen Obiri in the final 150 meters. Jessica McClain of the United States finished second, passing Obiri in the final strides. McClain was six seconds behind Chepkirui. It is the first time a U.S. woman has placed in the top three since 2018.

The field included runners from more than 140 countries. About 60,000 participants started the race, with nearly half of them being women. In 1976, the seventh edition of the race had just over 2,000 competitors, including only 88 women. The race began in 1970 and was run entirely inside Central Park for the first six years. It moved out of the park in 1976 to help uplift the struggling city.

The course saw a minor adjustment for the first time in 15 years. Runners took a slightly different route at Mile 20 when entering the Bronx. The change reduced the number of turns in the borough from seven to five and eased street closures.

Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race for the eighth time. He defeated Daniel Romanchuk by just over a second after passing him in the final 100 meters. Catherine Debrunner of Sweden won the women's wheelchair race in 1:40:02, the second-fastest time in race history. Susannah Scaroni finished third, more than eight minutes behind Debrunner, three months after giving birth to her first child.