Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui, Sweden's Andreas Almgren win 2026 NYC Marathon

Key points

• Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the women's division of the 2026 New York City Marathon in 2:24:35.
• Andreas Almgren of Sweden won the men's division in his marathon debut.
• The 26.2-mile race started in Staten Island and finished in Manhattan's Central Park.

Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui won the women's division of the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday, finishing in 2:24:35. Sweden's Andreas Almgren won the men's division in his marathon debut.

Tens of thousands of runners from around the world took part in the race through all five New York City boroughs. The 26.2-mile course began in Staten Island and finished in Manhattan's Central Park.

How race day unfolded

The professional men's and women's wheelchair divisions started from Fort Wadsworth at around 8 a.m. ET. Handcyclists and select athletes with disabilities followed, then the professional women's and men's open divisions.

Five separate waves of runners then started at different times between around 9 and 11:30 a.m. The route crossed the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn, then Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx before looping back to Central Park. Many streets and bridges were closed to traffic on race day.

Defending champions return

Kenyan long-distance stars Hellen Obiri and Benson Kipruto returned as defending champions after winning the women's and men's open divisions in 2025. Almgren, the World Half Marathon champion, joined them in his highly anticipated full marathon debut.

Conner Mantz, the American marathon record-holder, also ran. He earned that title after completing the Chicago Marathon in 2 hours, 4 minutes and 43 seconds last year. Spectators could follow runners' progress through the New York Road Runners' interactive tracker.