Most runners spend years learning how to race a marathon. Andreas Almgren of Sweden won one of the biggest in the world on his first try.
Almgren crossed the line in Central Park in 2:06:01 on Sunday, November 1. That was only 63 seconds outside the course record of 2:04:58, a remarkable time on a course known for its bridges and late hills.
Men’s top three
- Andreas Almgren, Sweden, 2:06:01
- Yemaneberhan Crippa, Italy, 2:06:14
- Kamohelo Mofolo, Lesotho, 2:06:26
A six-second finish in the women’s race
Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won in 2:24:36, her second New York title after 2024. It was close: American Jessica McClain finished just six seconds back, and defending champion Hellen Obiri was a single second behind McClain.
- Sheila Chepkirui, Kenya, 2:24:36
- Jessica McClain, USA, 2:24:42
- Hellen Obiri, Kenya, 2:24:43
Wheelchair races
Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race in 1:28:14, edging Daniel Romanchuk for his eighth New York title. Catherine Debrunner took the women’s race in 1:40:02, her second win here and 30 seconds off her own course record.
Why a debut win is so rare
The marathon punishes inexperience. Runners moving up from the track or the half marathon often start too fast, misjudge their fueling or hit the wall, the sudden fatigue that tends to strike after about 30 kilometers when the body’s stored energy runs low. Learning to pace 42.2 kilometers usually takes a few attempts. Winning a major marathon on a first try, and doing it in just over two hours and six minutes, puts Almgren in very small company.
Second place was also a story. Yemaneberhan Crippa, a long-time track and road runner for Italy, ran 2:06:14 and pushed Almgren much of the way.
A course that rewards patience
New York is not built for fast times. The race starts on Staten Island, on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and passes through all five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. Its bridges create a series of climbs, and the long, gradual rise up Fifth Avenue in the final miles, before the finish in Central Park, is where many races are won and lost. With no pacemakers in the elite field, the race is usually tactical, which makes a time close to the 2:04:58 course record set by Tamirat Tola in 2023 all the more impressive.
A small race that became the biggest
The first New York City Marathon, in 1970, was a few laps of Central Park with 127 starters and only a few dozen finishers. The race moved to its five-borough course in 1976 and grew into the largest marathon in the world, with more than 50,000 finishers in recent years and about two million spectators along the route.
What we think
A debut win in New York in 2:06 marks Almgren as one of the most interesting marathon runners in the world. Track runners often struggle with the distance; he made it look natural. The women’s race, though, was the finish of the day. Three women within seven seconds after 26.2 miles, with an American in second, is exactly the kind of close, unpredictable racing that grows the sport’s audience.
