Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui won the women’s race at the 2026 New York City Marathon, while Sweden’s Andreas Almgren claimed the men’s title on his marathon debut.
Chepkirui completed the 26.2-mile course in 2hr 24min 35sec to secure her second New York City Marathon victory. Almgren, the world half-marathon champion, added the men’s title to a debut that had been closely anticipated.
The race took tens of thousands of competitors through all five boroughs of New York, beginning in Staten Island and ending in Central Park in Manhattan. Crowds gathered along the route to watch the runners pass through the city.
New York City Marathon route and race schedule
The course crossed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn before continuing through Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx. Runners then returned through Manhattan for the finish in Central Park, with streets and bridges closed to traffic during the event.
The professional wheelchair divisions started from Fort Wadsworth at about 8am local time, followed by handcyclists and selected athletes with disabilities. The professional women’s and men’s open divisions then set off, before five waves of runners began between about 9am and 11.30am.
Kenyan defending champions Hellen Obiri and Benson Kipruto returned after winning the women’s and men’s races respectively in 2025. They were joined in the field by American marathon record-holder Conner Mantz, who set his record at last year’s Chicago Marathon with a time of 2hr 4min 43sec.
