Almgren
Wins New York.

Almgren wins the New York City Marathon on his debut

Sweden's Andreas Almgren won the men's race at the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday 1 November 2026. He crossed the line in Central Park in 2:06:01, 13 seconds ahead of Italy's Yemaneberhan Crippa (2:06:14), with Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho third in 2:06:26. It was the first marathon he has ever run.

It came six weeks after he won the world half marathon title in Copenhagen in a 58:06 European record, and eleven weeks after his European 10,000m gold in Birmingham. Three major titles at three different distances in one autumn. The thinking behind it is in his own book, Run Faster, 10% off for Run Mastery readers with the code RUNMASTERY.

How the race unfolded

There are no pacemakers in the New York professional race, and on a hilly course through all five boroughs that usually means a tactical first half. This one was no different. The lead pack went through 5 km in 15:30 and halfway in 1:04:01, and was still 16 runners strong at 25 km. Conditions were close to ideal: around 10 to 12 degrees and very little wind, according to the Swedish Athletics Association.

At 35 km, passed in 1:45:33, there were still 15 men together. Then the race started. Defending champion Benson Kipruto lifted the pace with about five kilometres to go, and Almgren went with him straight away. By 40 km, reached in 2:00:00, it was down to four: Kipruto, Almgren, America's Zouhair Talbi and Crippa. Talbi dropped first, then Kipruto. In the final stretch in Central Park Almgren pulled away from Crippa and had time to celebrate with the crowd before the line.

Splits from the Swedish Athletics Association and the 40 km split from Yahoo Sports. Segment times are calculated from the published splits.

Two numbers explain the win. First, the negative split: 1:04:01 for the first half and 1:02:00 for the second, two minutes faster. Second, the finish: the 35 to 40 km segment was the fastest of the race, and his last 2.195 km averaged about 2:44 per kilometre, close to his world half marathon record pace, after 40 km of running. The average for the whole race was about 2:59 per kilometre, or 4:48 per mile.

Afterwards he was lost for words. "You can't ask for a better debut," he told ESPN, as reported by AFP, and he told Swedish media he was close to tears.

Full results: the top 10

Results from Marathon Journal and Yahoo Sports. The women's race is covered below.

The women's race: Chepkirui wins her second New York title

Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui won the women's race in 2:24:36, her second New York title after her win in 2024. It was one of the tightest finishes the race has seen: America's Jessica McClain was second in 2:24:42, six seconds back, and defending champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya third in 2:24:43, one second behind McClain.

Chepkirui led at 20, 25 and 30 km. Obiri, who set the women's course record of 2:19:51 a year ago, took over at 35 km. At 40 km Chepkirui was back in front with Obiri right on her shoulder and McClain still in touch, and she pulled away over the final 2.2 km. It denied Obiri a third New York win and gave the United States its top finisher of the day in McClain.

Results and splits from Yahoo Sports and LetsRun.

Why this win is historic

The first Swede to win New York. No Swedish runner had won the New York City Marathon before, according to the Swedish Athletics Association. NBC Sports also described him as the first European-born man to win the race since Italy's Giacomo Leone in 1996.

Four seconds from the Swedish record. The Swedish marathon record is 2:05:57, set by Suldan Hassan in Tokyo on 2 March 2025 (Wikipedia). Almgren missed it by four seconds on a course that is not built for records, with hills, bridges and no pacemakers.

One of the fastest winning times in the race's history. The Swedish Athletics Association calls it the fourth-fastest winning time ever in New York. It was 1:03 outside Tamirat Tola's course record of 2:04:58 from 2023.

A debut win in a major. Winning one of the World Marathon Majors at the first attempt, against a field with ten men who had run under 2:05, is rare at this level.

Almgren's autumn: three titles in eleven weeks

New York was the last step of a season that moved from the track to the road and from the road to the marathon.

The full story of the Copenhagen race and his record streak is in our world half marathon article.

Almgren's personal bests after New York

Record marks pending ratification where applicable. Sources as listed below.

How he prepared

Almgren decided to run New York after watching the race a year earlier, and began marathon-specific training in November 2025. In an interview with Runner's World Sweden in August he described long runs of up to about 40 km finished fast, a focus on threshold work and especially the aerobic threshold rather than VO2max, and almost a year of training his gut to take in about 120 g of carbohydrate an hour. The negative split in New York is exactly what that kind of preparation is built to produce. His wider philosophy, how he went from years of setbacks to records, is the subject of his book Run Faster.

What recreational runners can take from it

A 2:06 marathon is not a template for anyone else. But the way he ran it is.

• Run the second half faster. He went through halfway in 1:04:01 and came home in 1:02:00. For your own marathon, a controlled first half is the single biggest lever. The pace calculator gives you even splits for any goal time, and the marathon training plan shows how to build the fitness to hold them.
• Train the aerobic threshold. His stated focus on LT1 is the same idea as easy, consistent Zone 2 running. See the Zone 2 guide.
• Practise your fuel. He trained his gut for a year. You can start with your next long run, and the race day fuelling guide works out how many gels you need.
• Speed does not transfer on its own. His half marathon speed only became a 2:06 because he built the endurance to use it. That gap is what our 10K to marathon guide is about.

Sources

• Friidrottsförbundet: Almgren överlägsen i New York
• Yahoo Sports: Andreas Almgren wins 2026 NYC Marathon, Crippa second in stunning debut
• Yahoo Sports: 2026 New York City Marathon results, Sheila Chepkirui wins
• Marathon Journal: 2026 New York City Marathon results
• LetsRun: New York City Marathon men's results
• Read the Profile: Who is Andreas Almgren?
• TV4: Andreas Almgren vinner New York Marathon
• Runner's World Sweden: Almgren om träningen inför New York Marathon
• Wikipedia: Suldan Hassan (Swedish marathon record)