NEW YORK Nov. 1 (Race Results Weekly) — For just the fourth time in race history, a marathon debutante won the men’s division of the TCS New York City Marathon.  Andreas Almgren of Sweden, the reigning world half-marathon champion, ran a brilliant tactical race, surging away from Italy’s Yemane Crippa in the final kilometer to win 2:06:01.  The 31-year-old became the first Swede, male or female, to win in New York, and his time was the second-fastest ever by a Swedish man (he missed the national record by just four seconds).  He won $100,000 in prize money.

“This is my first marathon, so I didn’t know how this was supposed to feel,” he said at the post-race press conference.  He said of his strategy: “I’m just going to respond to everything.”

Indeed he did, and with just the right amount of effort.  Like a champion surfer, Almgren patiently waited as conditions changed around him.  He coasted through the first 10 kilometers with a lead pack of about 25 men (30:52) and didn’t worry that the leaders were only on pace to run about 2:10.

“That’s one of the reasons I wanted to race in New York,” Almgren said.  “It’s not about the time.”

Predictably, the pace quickened in the middle of the race.  The next 10 kilometers were covered in 29:58, and the halfway mark was reached in 1:04:01.  At that point, American Zouhair Talbi had a three-second lead after putting in a quick burst of speed, but the pack was all back together by the top of the Queensboro Bridge where the 25-K point is located.  Sixteen men remained with the lead group, including podium favorites Benson Kipruto of Kenya (the defending champion), Crippa, Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia, and Conner Mantz of the United States.

Almgren stayed close to the front, but wasn’t pushing the pace.  He stayed alert and kept tabs on his rivals.

“You get a lot of ups and downs,” he said of how a marathon unfolds.  He added: “I started to feel a bit fatigued.”

The pace flattened between 30 and 35 kilometers (split time of 15:07) and 15 people were still in the lead pack.  Something had to give.  In the 38th kilometer in Central Park Almgren, Kipruto, Crippa and Talbi got away, and by the 40-K mark Talbi was six seconds back.  Behind him, 21 year-old Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho had moved up from the chase group and was in fifth position, four seconds behind Talbi.

The 40th kilometer was covered in about 2:49, and that was too fast for Kipruto.  The Kenyan fell back, leaving Crippa and Almgren to fight for the win.

“Suddenly, it was just us two,” Almgren recalled.

Almgren and Crippa know each other well, and are closely matched in their athletic ability.  But the Swede came from a middle-distance background and has an 800m personal best of 1:45.59 (3:32.00 for 1500m).  Nevertheless, Almgren did not want to rely on his speed and started pushing on the gently uphill section of Central Park South (West 59th Street) before the right-hand turn into Central Park.  A gap started to open.

“On 59th Street I got a little bit of a gap,” Almgren said.  He added: “I didn’t think it was going to be that quick of a finish.”

By the time he strode onto the park’s loop road, the gap was too big for Crippa to overcome.  Taking in the huge crowds bathed in gorgeous fall sunshine, Almgren waved his right hand and encouraged the fans to cheer.  He was thrilled with his win, even if he just missed the national record.

“It would be nice to have a 2:05 time,” said Almgren, who ran his second half in a very fast 1:01:57.  “But I’d rather have the win.”

Crippa came home second in 2:06:14, and Mofolo managed to move from fifth place at 40-K to third at the finish.  He’s the first man from Lesotho to make the podium at the race.  Kipruto finished fourth (2:06:17) and Australia’s Haftu Strintzos, who competed at Villanova during his NCAA career, took fifth (2:06:34).  Talbi, who put in several surges during the race and was in fourth place at the 40-K mark, finished sixth and was the top American in 2:06:43.  His time was the fastest ever by an American at this race.

“Today was definitely a tough race,” he told the media.  He added: “By 30-K I just felt flat for some reason.  I just didn’t feel that pop.”

The women’s race was even more of a nail-biter.  A field of 27 elite women took off from Staten Island 30 minutes ahead of the men, and they were in no hurry.  Nearly the entire field was together through 5-K (18:23) and 10-K (35:45).  Things picked up a bit in the third five-kilometer segment (17:14), but there were still 17 women within five seconds of the leaders, Sheila Chepkirui and Hellen Obiri of Kenya, the overwhelming favorites for victory. Chepkirui had won New York in 2024, and was third last year.  Obiri won in 2025 and 2023 and was second in 2024.  

Through halfway, 11 women remained at the front, including six Americans: Jessica McClain, Carrie Ellwood, Amanda Vestri, Lauren Hagans, Weini Kelati, and Annie Frisbie.  McClain, the fastest-ever American woman at the Boston Marathon, had come into the race with big goals.  She felt like a completely different athlete than when she last ran here in 2024 and finished eighth.

“I had high goals for this weekend,” McClain said after the race.  She continued: “I wanted to compete for the podium.”

The climb up the Queensboro Bridge to the 25-K mark did little to whittle down the field, although Hagans and Vestri drifted back and would finish 13th (2:29:42) and 16th (2:30:16), respectively.  It wasn’t until the Willis Avenue Bridge, which connects Manhattan to the Bronx at the 31-K mark, that the most consequential moves began to happen.  Ascending the bridge, Kenya’s Mercy Chelangat abruptly stopped and began to throw up.  Remarkably, she recovered and got back in the lead pack before the race headed back into Manhattan over the Third Avenue Bridge.

The field was now down to seven: Obiri, Chepkirui, McClain, Kelati, Chelangat, 47 year-old Edna Kiplagat, and Ellwood.  Chepkirui felt like she had to do something.

“I had to push,” Chepkirui said.  “I pushed around six kilometers (to go), so somebody had to make a move so I was that person.”

Chepkirui went to the front and Obiri followed her immediately, and the pair ran 16:24 from 35 to 40 kilometers.  McClain and Chelangat stayed together behind the Kenyan duo and were able to keep them in sight.  One of the former champions would win again, but which one?  The race would not be decided until the final 400 meters.  Chepkirui led by one second, but Obiri –who won two Olympic silver medals at 5000m– has great speed.  

“I knew Hellen was really strong,” said Chepkirui, who ran her second half in 1:10:43 and, like Almgren, earned $100,000 in prize money.  “I knew I had to push to the finish line.”

Obiri was simply too exhausted to keep up with Chepkirui, who won her second TCS New York City Marathon in 2:24:36.  It looked like Obiri would get second, but the tenacious McClain was still pushing.  She erased a four-second deficit with 400 meters to go, and caught Obiri just before the tape to finish second in 2:24:42 to Obiri’s 2:24:43.  She became the first American woman to get on the podium here since Shalane Flanagan in 2018.

“You just never know how it’s going to play out,” said McClain  “It’s not over til it’s over.”

Kiplagat, twice the world marathon champion, took fourth in 2:25:42, the fastest time ever at this race for a woman in the 45 to 49 age group.  Chelangat, despite her stomach troubles, finished fifth in 2:25:46.  Ellwood was sixth in 2:26:28, and Kelati made a creditable marathon debut in 2:26:51 in seventh place.  With Paige Wood finishing eighth in 2:27:29, four Americans finished in the top-10.

In the professional wheelchair races, Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland emerged victorious.  Hug won for the eighth time, but not without a struggle.  He had to take down top American Daniel Romanchuk in the final sprint to the line.  Hug was clocked in 1:28:14, just one second ahead of Romanchuk.

“I was trying to attack and get away from him, especially in the second half,” said Hug, who clinched the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors wheelchair title with his win here today.  He added: “Just before the finish I catch him.”

Debrunner steamrolled the field on the women’s side, winning by more than eight minutes in 1:40:02.  She, too, clinched the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors wheelchair title.

Both wheelchair winners won $50,000 in prize money.

Complete results found here