Almgren Breaks 2:06 in Debut, Chepkirui Repeats

Andreas Almgren won the men's New York City Marathon on Sunday in his first attempt at the full distance.

The 50th edition of the race concluded in Central Park after a course that stretched across all five boroughs of New York City.

The event began in 1970 with runners looping inside Central Park. Officials moved the race out of the park in 1976 to mark the U.S. bicentennial and support a struggling city. That year, fewer than 2,000 athletes competed, including 88 women. By Sunday, roughly 60,000 runners from more than 140 nations reached the starting line. Nearly half of them were women.

Almgren, a half-marathon specialist from Sweden, broke away from Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa in the final mile. He crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second. Crippa finished 13 seconds later. Lesotho's Kamohelo Mofolo took third place, passing defending champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya. Almgren's time ranked as the third fastest in the course's 50-year history. He is the first runner to win the New York Marathon on debut since Ethiopia's Gebre Gebremariam in 2010. American Zouhair Talbi finished sixth, setting the fastest time ever recorded by a U.S. man in this race.

Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui won the women's race for the second time. She defeated countrywoman Hellen Obiri in the final 150 meters to finish in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds. Jessica McClain of the United States secured second place, passing Obiri in the final strides. McClain finished six seconds behind the winner. Her podium finish marked the first time a U.S. woman placed in the top three since 2018.

The course underwent a minor adjustment for the first time in 15 years. Runners took a different route at Mile 20 when entering the Bronx. Organizers changed the path to cut the number of turns in that borough from seven to five and reduce street closures.

Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race for the eighth time. He defeated Daniel Romanchuk by just over a second. Hug took the lead from Romanchuk in the final 100 meters as they entered Central Park. Sweden's Catherine Debrunner won the women's wheelchair race in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 2 seconds. That time was the second fastest in event history, trailing her 2023 record by about 30 seconds. Susannah Scaroni finished third, more than eight minutes behind Debrunner, three months after giving birth to her first child.