Andreas Almgren Wins NYC Marathon in His Debut, Sheila Chepkirui Takes Women's Title as Race Marks 50 Years
Sweden's Andreas Almgren stunned the field in his first-ever marathon and Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui held off American Jess McClain, as roughly 55,000 runners retraced the five-borough course on its 50th anniversary.
Andreas Almgren of Sweden won the men's race at the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday in his marathon debut, crossing the line in 2:06:01 to beat a field that included three previous major-marathon champions. The win capped a race that marked the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course first run in 1976 to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial.
Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa finished second in 2:06:14, with Lesotho's Kamohelo Mofolo third in 2:06:26. Defending champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya, the pre-race favorite, came in fourth in 2:06:27 — missing back-to-back titles by a single place.
In the women's race, Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui won in 2:24:36, holding off a hard-charging Jess McClain of the United States, who finished second in 2:24:42 for the top American finish. Defending champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya took third in 2:24:43, as all three women crossed within seven seconds of one another.
Records, and a field 240,000 people tried to join
Switzerland's Marcel Hug won the men's wheelchair race for the eighth time, finishing in 1:28:14, while compatriot Catherine Debrunner dominated the women's wheelchair field in 1:40:02.
New York Road Runners had reported a record more than 240,000 applications for this year's race, meaning roughly 1 percent of hopefuls made it in through the general lottery. Organizers put the field at around 55,000 runners lining up on the Staten Island side of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, cheered on by an estimated 2 million spectators across the course's five boroughs. Last year's race set the world record for the largest marathon ever run, with 59,226 official finishers.
50 YEARS, FIVE BOROUGHS, ONE BRIDGE START
For the anniversary, NYRR expanded its official charity partner program to more than 670 nonprofits and set a goal of raising over $100 million through runners' fundraising efforts — part of a race that has grown, since its first five-borough edition under the Bicentennial banner, into the largest participatory marathon on earth. Almgren's winning time, run on a cool, mostly overcast morning, was more than three minutes off Tamirat Tola's 2023 course record of 2:04:58, but it was more than enough to hold off a championship-caliber chasing pack on a course runners have long called unforgiving for first-timers.