New York City Marathon 2026: Almgren wins on debut and Chepkirui takes her second title

Andreas Almgren had never run a marathon. On Sunday (November 1), the 31-year-old Swede lined up on Staten Island alongside names like Benson Kipruto and Geoffrey Kamworor, waited for the pack to wear itself down until kilometer 35, and won the New York City Marathon in 2:06:01. In the women's race, Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui won for the second time in three years, in a finish decided over the last 150 meters.

The results

Men

Women

In the wheelchair races, Switzerland's Marcel Hug won his eighth title (1:28:14), one second ahead of American Daniel Romanchuk. Fellow Swiss Catherine Debrunner won comfortably in 1:40:02.

How the men's race was decided

For 35 km nobody could break away. The pack went through halfway in 1:04:01 and, at 35 km, the top ten were separated by less than a second. The lead changed hands between Zouhair Talbi, Conner Mantz and Geoffrey Kamworor, with no one opening a gap.

Almgren was fifth at that split. From there he ran the final 7.2 km in 20:27, against 20:40 for Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa, and pulled clear for good in the last mile, already inside Central Park. His second half was more than two minutes faster than his first, something rare on a course like New York's.

Who is Andreas Almgren

The most striking part of Almgren's story is the path that brought him here. He started in the 800 meters: he took bronze at the 2014 World U20 Championships in 1:45.65. Then he moved up in distance, one step at a time.

• 1,500 m: 3:32.00 personal best
• 5,000 m: European record in 2025, with 12:44.27
• 10,000 m: bronze at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo and European champion in August 2026
• Half marathon: world champion in Copenhagen on September 20, 2026, in 58:06, a European record
• Marathon: debut and victory in New York, six weeks later

In other words, in just over a year he became a world medalist on the track, world half marathon champion and a Major winner. His 2:06:01 was four seconds off the Swedish marathon record (2:05:57, by Suldan Hassan). He is also the first Swede to win in New York.

For runners, the practical lesson is patience: even as the fastest athlete in the pack over shorter distances, he didn't attack early. He waited until 35 km and decided it at the end, where his track speed made the difference.

Chepkirui, McClain and a tight finish

The women's race was decided in the final meters. Hellen Obiri, the course record holder, attacked late, but Chepkirui retook the lead near 40 km and pulled away over the last 150 meters. Behind her, Jess McClain passed Obiri in the final strides and secured second place by one second.

Chepkirui, 35, had already won New York in 2024 and finished third in 2025. Her personal best is 2:17:29, from Valencia 2022, far faster than Sunday's time, which says a lot about the kind of race New York is (more on that below).

McClain's podium also carries historical weight: she is the first American woman in the top three since Shalane Flanagan in 2018.

The course: five boroughs and five bridges

The marathon covers the official 42,195 meters and crosses all five boroughs of New York. The start is at Fort Wadsworth, on Staten Island, climbing straight onto the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Then come Brooklyn (about 11 miles, the longest section), Queens, Manhattan and a short stretch in the Bronx. The finish is in Central Park, next to Tavern on the Green.

Along the way there are five bridges: Verrazzano-Narrows, Pulaski (at halfway), Queensboro, Willis Avenue and Madison Avenue.

Elevation: where the race makes you pay

All told, there are more than 800 feet of climbing (about 245 meters). It isn't a hilly race, but there is almost no flat section. The points that hurt the most:

• Mile 1, Verrazzano Bridge: more than 45 m of climbing right at the start. The advice is to run the first mile slower than goal pace.
• Miles 15–16, Queensboro Bridge: about 31 m over more than a kilometer, on a quiet stretch with no crowds. It is considered one of the hardest points of the race.
• Miles 16–18, First Avenue: comes right after the bridge, slightly downhill and packed with spectators. This is where many people speed up too much and pay for it later.
• Miles 22–23, Fifth Avenue: about 30 m of climbing over almost a mile, when the legs are already at their limit.
• Central Park: rolling all the way to the finish.

Is New York a race for a personal best?

Generally, no. Three factors explain why:

1. Elevation: the bridges and Fifth Avenue break your rhythm. Berlin and Chicago are much flatter.
2. No pacers: the elite run without pacemakers, so the race tends to be tactical. A big pack holds the pace and decides it at the end, exactly as happened on Sunday.
3. Logistics and crowds: there are about 60,000 people at the start, in waves, with many turns and congested sections.

The numbers show it. The men's course record is 2:04:58 (Tamirat Tola, 2023), more than four minutes slower than the world record. The women's is 2:19:51 (Hellen Obiri, 2025). And Chepkirui, who has run 2:17:29, won in 2:24:36.

For amateur runners, New York is a race to experience and to run well, with a strategy: start conservatively, run by effort on the climbs and don't get carried away on First Avenue. If the goal is a PR, Berlin, Chicago or Valencia are better bets.

A bit of history

The first edition was held on September 13, 1970: 127 runners did laps of Central Park and 55 finished. Fred Lebow and Vincent Chiappetta, of New York Road Runners, were behind the idea. In 1976, to celebrate the United States bicentennial, the race began crossing all five boroughs, with 2,090 entrants.

2026 was the 50th edition on the five-borough course. The route also saw its first change in 15 years: in the Bronx, near mile 20, the number of turns dropped from seven to five.

Some of the race's milestones:

• Norway's Grete Waitz won nine times, between 1978 and 1988.
• The wheelchair division has existed since 2000.
• New York is one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and has become the world's largest marathon by number of finishers, with more than 59,000 in 2025.

Everyone at their own pace. Together along the way.