Almgren's 2026 season so far
Almgren's season has three races that define it so far, and each one is a step in the same direction: from the track toward the road, and from the road toward the marathon.
| Date | Race | Result |
|---|
| 11 Jan | 10K Valencia Ibercaja | 1st, 26:45, European record |
| 15 Aug | European Championships (EM), Birmingham, 10,000m | European gold, 27:23.44, championship record |
| 20 Sep | World Championships (VM), Copenhagen, half marathon | World gold, 58:06, European record |
| 1 Nov | TCS New York City Marathon | Marathon debut |
Valencia 10K, 11 January: 26:45
Almgren opened the year by winning the Valencia 10K for the second time, in 26:45. That took eight seconds off the European 10K record of 26:53 he had set at the same race a year earlier, and it placed him sixth on the world all-time list at the time, according to Watch Athletics. He ran much of the race without a pacemaker.
European title (EM) in Birmingham, 15 August: 27:23.44
In the 10,000m at Alexander Stadium he won in 27:23.44, a championship record that broke Martti Vainio's 27:30.99 from 1978, the oldest mark in the championship's books. He beat Switzerland's Dominic Lobalu by more than 19 seconds, with France's Jimmy Gressier taking bronze. The run was a rare negative split: 14:05.07 for the first 5,000m and 13:17.74 for the second.
This was a race Almgren made himself. The first three laps were slow, so he took the initiative on the fourth and led from there, which means roughly the last 8 km of the race. According to European Athletics, he then broke most of the 25-man field over the next laps at 63 to 64 seconds each. Only Mike Foppen, Yemaneberhan Crippa, Jimmy Gressier and Dominic Lobalu were still with him at halfway, Foppen dropped at 6,000m, and a second surge at the seventh kilometre broke the last of them. With 3,000m to go he was running alone.
According to COROS, which analysed his race data, the decisive move came at the seventh kilometre. His average heart rate was 165 bpm in the first half and 180 bpm in the second, against a threshold heart rate of 168 bpm. In other words, he spent the second half of the race running above threshold and still getting faster.
World title (VM) in Copenhagen, 20 September: 58:06
Almgren had not raced a half marathon all year before Copenhagen, according to Marathon Handbook, and went in as the third-fastest man in the field on paper behind Kipkorir and Rono. He came out as world champion, and this time he did it from behind: he sat in the group while Kipkorir and Rono set the pace and won it with the finish. In his Runner's World Sweden interview he described it as a stepping stone toward New York.
Every time that matters: Almgren's personal bests
| Event | Time | Where and when |
|---|
| 800m | 1:45.59 | Sollentuna, 2015 |
| 1500m | 3:32.00 | Oslo, 2023 |
| 3000m (indoor) | 7:34.31 | Liévin, 2022 (Swedish record) |
| 5,000m | 12:44.27 | Stockholm, 15 June 2025 (European record) |
| 10,000m | 26:52.87 | San Juan Capistrano, 2024 (Swedish record) |
| 10K (road) | 26:45 | Valencia, 11 January 2026 (European record) |
| Half marathon | 58:06 | Copenhagen, 20 September 2026 (European record) |
| Marathon | Debut 1 November 2026 | New York City |
Track and junior bests from Wikipedia, road records from World Athletics, European Athletics reporting and Marathon Handbook. The 5,000m and half marathon marks are pending ratification. Almgren, born 12 June 1995 and running for Tureberg, also won 800m bronze at the 2014 World Junior Championships and world 10,000m bronze in Tokyo in 2025 (28:56.02).
The record streak behind the gold
The world title did not come from nowhere. Over roughly 15 months Almgren has taken European records at three different distances. He ran 12:44.27 for 5,000m in Stockholm on 15 June 2025. He ran the first European half marathon under 59 minutes, 58:41, in Valencia on 26 October 2025. And he lowered the 10K to 26:45 in January. Between those, he won a world 10,000m bronze in Tokyo. What links all of it is range: one runner holding records from 5,000m on the track to the half marathon on the road is unusual, and it is the profile of an athlete with both speed and a very large aerobic engine.
His own explanation of how he got there is the subject of his book, Run Faster, and of our Andreas Almgren profile: years of setbacks, then a shift from training as hard as possible to training deliberately.
How he is training for New York
In an interview with Runner's World Sweden published on 25 August 2026, Almgren gave an unusually detailed view of his marathon preparation. The details below are his own words and are elite-level, not a template for other runners.
- Marathon work started early. He began marathon-specific training in November 2025, when he decided to run New York.
- Long runs up to about 40 km. He said he would be "up at about 40 kilometres at most," running fast at the end of those sessions.
- Threshold over VO2max. Because he believes he has the best 10,000m capacity in the field at this time of year, he said he could skip VO2max work and put all his focus on threshold, especially LT1, the aerobic threshold.
- Fuelling as a trained skill. He has trained his gut since November 2025, taking in about 120 g of carbohydrate per hour on easy long runs and close to 130 g per hour on harder sessions.
- Outside input. He designs his sessions himself, discusses them with others who have run marathons at the top level, and gets help from the people behind the sports drink maker Maurten.
