Almgren, Chepkirui win New York City Marathon

Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the New York City Marathon in his first race over 26.2 miles Sunday, while Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui reclaimed the women’s title with a late surge. About 60,000 runners started the race, which marked its 50th run through all five city boroughs.

Almgren broke away from Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa in the final mile and finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second, the third-fastest time in the course’s history. Crippa crossed the line 13 seconds later. Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho took third, edging defending champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya.

“I’ve probably never felt so emotional after a race ever,” Almgren said. “With 5k left I felt like I had the legs today.” Near the finish, he said, he realized he had a substantial lead and decided to enjoy the final few hundred meters.

A World Half Marathon champion who had also competed at 10,000 meters, Almgren became the first runner to win the New York race on his marathon debut since Ethiopia’s Gebre Gebremariam in 2010. The top seven men recorded times that ranked among the 10 fastest in course history. American Zouhair Talbi finished sixth with the fastest time ever by a U.S. runner in the event.

Chepkirui, the 2024 winner, pulled away from fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri in the final 150 meters. American Jessica McClain then passed Obiri, a two-time winner and the defending champion, in the final strides to finish second, six seconds behind Chepkirui. McClain became the first U.S. woman to place in the top three since 2018.

“The last mile was really tricky, I knew I had to be patient because Hellen was really strong,” Chepkirui said. “I am so happy.” McClain said she had struggled earlier in the race: “I really didn’t feel great through 18 miles. I just had to stick with it.”

The sources reported Chepkirui’s winning time differently: NPR and The Guardian listed 2:24:36, while CBS News listed 2:24:35.

In the wheelchair races, Marcel Hug overtook Daniel Romanchuk in the final 100 meters to win the men’s event for the eighth time, by just over a second, according to NPR. Catherine Debrunner won the women’s event in 1:40:02, the second-fastest time in race history. Two-time defending champion Susannah Scaroni finished third, three months after giving birth to her first child.

Runners from more than 140 countries took part, NPR reported, and nearly half the starters were women. The marathon began in 1970 with a course entirely inside Central Park. When it first expanded to all five boroughs in 1976, just over 2,000 people competed, including 88 women. This year, organizers made a small change to the route in the Bronx to reduce turns and ease street closures, NPR reported.