Swede Almgren takes NYC Marathon title in debut; Chepkirui claims women's crown

New York, N.Y. Andreas Almgren of Sweden captured the men's title at the New York City Marathon on Sunday in his first attempt at the full distance. The 26-year-old runner, who previously specialized in half-marathons, finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second. He secured the victory by pulling away from Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy in the final mile. Crippa crossed the line 13 seconds behind Almgren. Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho finished third, narrowly beating defending champion Benson Kipruto.

Almgren earned $100,000 for the win. His time ranks as the third fastest in the 50-year history of the course. Six runners completed the race in under 2 hours, 7 minutes, joining the top 10 all-time list for the event. Almgren became the first athlete to win the marathon on their debut since Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia won the race in 2010. In the women's race, Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya claimed her second victory in the event. She defeated Hellen Obiri of Kenya in the final 150 meters. Chepkirui finished in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds.

American Jessica McClain finished second in the women's race, passing Obiri in the final few strides. McClain trailed Chepkirui by six seconds. This marks the first time a U.S. woman has placed in the top three since 2018. Zouhair Talbi of the United States finished sixth in the men's race. Talbi recorded the fastest time ever by an American in the event's history.

The 2026 race marked the 50th edition to run through all five boroughs of New York City. Approximately 60,000 competitors started the race on Sunday. Nearly half of the field consisted of women. Runners from more than 140 countries participated. The race has grown substantially since its inception in 1970. In 1976, the seventh running of the event, just over 2,000 people competed, including only 88 women. The race began in Central Park for its first six years before moving to a city-wide course in 1976 to celebrate the U.S. bicentennial.

Organizers made a minor course adjustment at Mile 20 in the Bronx for the first time in 15 years. The new route reduced the number of turns in the borough from seven to five. This change aimed to ease street closures in the area. In the wheelchair categories, Marcel Hug of Sweden won his eighth men's title. Hug beat 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 hour, 40 minutes and 2 seconds. This was the second-fastest time in race history. Susannah Scaroni finished third, more than eight minutes behind Debrunner, three months after giving birth.

Almgren said he tried to stay at the front and observe how the race developed. He noted that he did not expect such a quick finish. He chose to race in New York because the focus is on position rather than time. Chepkirui had also won the race in 2024. Kipruto, the defending men's champion, won last year by a margin of three-hundredths of a second over Alexander Mutiso.