Catherine Debrunner Wins the NYC Marathon Women's Wheelchair Race in 1:40:02 — 30 Seconds From Her Own Course Record
The race this desk watched her run away with at 35 kilometers ended the way it was always going to: Debrunner alone, eight minutes clear, with only her own 2023 course record left to chase — and that survived by half a minute.
Catherine Debrunner completed the most dominant performance of marathon Sunday, winning the women's wheelchair race in 1 hour, 40 minutes, 2 seconds — her second New York title, and a finish just 30 seconds outside the course record she set herself in 2023.
There was never a contest for first. The 31-year-old Swiss champion reached 5 kilometers in 11:44, led by more than two minutes at 10K, and passed halfway in 46:52, well inside record pace. At 35 kilometers her lead over Tatyana McFadden stood at 7 minutes, 40 seconds. Her pace eased over the closing kilometers through Central Park — the record projection of the morning faded — but the margin did not: she crossed 8 minutes, 25 seconds ahead of McFadden, the five-time New York champion.
Third place carries its own story. Susannah Scaroni, a three-time champion and last year's winner, finished third in her first race since the birth of her son in August — a return she announced only weeks ago. Behind the wheelchair podium, the morning completed a Swiss sweep of the division: Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race by 1.13 seconds in the closest finish in the event's history, a race this desk filed earlier today.
Debrunner's two New York titles now bookend the record book she owns: the 1:39:32 standard from 2023 still stands, by 30 seconds, after the closest serious attack it has faced. She and Hug each earn $50,000 for their victories.
