NYC Marathon Results: Andreas Almgren Wins in 2:06:01 in His Marathon Debut, Sheila Chepkirui Takes Her Second Title in 2:24:36
Neither defending champion kept the crown. A Swede who had never raced 26.2 miles won the men's race, a former champion reclaimed the women's race in the final 150 meters, and an American reached the women's podium for the first time since 2018.
The New York City Marathon has new champions, and one of them had never run a marathon before. Andreas Almgren of Sweden won the men's race on Sunday in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 1 second, pulling away from Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa in the final mile of his debut at the distance. Crippa finished second in 2:06:14, and Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho took third in 2:06:26 — one second ahead of defending champion Benson Kipruto, whose title defence ended in fourth place.
The women's race was decided even later. Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya pulled away from defending champion Hellen Obiri in the final 150 meters to win in 2:24:36, her second New York title after 2024. Behind her, the day's loudest finish belonged to an American: Jessica McClain passed Obiri in the final strides to take second in 2:24:42, with Obiri third in 2:24:43. McClain is the first United States woman to finish in New York's top three since 2018.
Almgren arrived as the world half-marathon champion with a closely watched debut, and the men's race stayed bunched deep into Central Park — he led at 40 kilometers with Kipruto a second behind — before the final mile sorted it. His 2:06:01 came in 1 minute, 3 seconds outside the course record. The win makes him the first Swedish winner of this race, and the first man to win New York in his marathon debut since 2010.
The results close the championship half of the 50th running of the five-borough course, which began in 1976 with just over 2,000 competitors. About 60,000 runners stepped to the start on Sunday, nearly half of them women, and the mass field was still finishing through the afternoon and into the evening. The wheelchair champions were decided earlier in the morning — Marcel Hug's eighth men's title and Catherine Debrunner's second women's title, both filed by this desk — and each open-division winner earns $100,000.
