New York City Marathon’s 50th five-borough race: Sweden’s Almgren wins on debut, Kenya’s Chepkirui takes second title

The 50th running of the New York City Marathon through all five boroughs took place on Sunday, 1 November, with about 60,000 runners starting on Staten Island, crossing into Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx, and finishing in Central Park. Runners came from more than 140 countries. The course had a minor modification at Mile 20 in the Bronx, the first in 15 years, to reduce street closures and turns in that borough.

Almgren wins on debut with the course’s third-fastest time

Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the men’s race in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second — his first marathon, after a career focused on half-marathons. He pulled away from Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa in the final mile; Crippa finished second in 2:06:14, Lesotho’s Kamohelo Mofolo was third in 2:06:26, and defending champion Benson Kipruto was fourth in 2:06:27. Almgren’s time was the third fastest in the course’s 50-year history, and he became the first Swedish winner of the race; American Zouhair Talbi finished sixth with the fastest time ever by a U.S. runner in the event.

Chepkirui wins again as McClain ends the U.S. podium drought

Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui won the women’s race in 2:24:36, her second New York title after 2024. She pulled away from countrywoman and two-time winner Hellen Obiri in the final 150 metres; American Jessica McClain passed Obiri in the final strides to finish second in 2:24:42, the first podium finish for a U.S. woman in New York since Shalane Flanagan in 2018. Obiri held on for third in 2:24:43, and 46-year-old former champion Edna Kiplagat was fourth in 2:25:42. In the wheelchair races, Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won the men’s race for the eighth time, edging Daniel Romanchuk by just over a second, while his Swiss countrywoman Catherine Debrunner won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:40:02.

Sources: Associated Press, 1 Nov 2026; NBC Sports, 1 Nov 2026. This site published a race-day preview of this event earlier today; this article reports the results.