Marathon Debut: Almgren's historic win

Andreas Almgren of Sweden captured the men's title at the New York City Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first debutant to win the race since Gebre Gebremariam in 2010. The Swedish runner, who had previously competed exclusively in half-marathons, finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second. His time ranks as the third fastest in the course's 50-year history.

Almgren pulled away from Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy during the final mile to secure the win. Crippa finished 13 seconds behind. Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho placed third, edging out the defending champion, Benson Kipruto. Six runners in the top 10 posted times under 2 hours and 7 minutes, joining the all-time top 10 list for the course.

"This is my first marathon. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel," Almgren said after earning $100,000 for the victory. He noted that he chose the New York race because the focus is on position rather than time. "I just tried to stay up at front and see what happened," he added.

In the women's race, Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya claimed her second title in the event. She passed her countryman Hellen Obiri in the final 150 meters to finish in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds. Jessica McClain of the United States took second place, passing Obiri in the final strides. McClain finished 6 seconds behind Chepkirui, marking the first time a U.S. woman placed in the top three since 2018.

The race marked the 50th year the event has traversed all five boroughs of New York City. The field included approximately 60,000 runners from more than 140 countries. Nearly half of the participants were women. In 1976, the seventh running of the event, just over 2,000 competitors started, including only 88 women.

A minor course adjustment occurred at Mile 20 in the Bronx for the first time in 15 years. Organizers altered the route to reduce the number of turns in the borough from seven to five. The change aimed to ease street closures in that area. The race originally began in 1970, spending its first six years entirely within Central Park before expanding to the city's boroughs.

In the wheelchair division, Marcel Hug of Sweden won his eighth men's title. He overtook Daniel Romanchuk in the final 100 meters after Romanchuk took the lead in the last mile. Catherine Debrunner of Sweden won the women's wheelchair race in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 2 seconds, setting the second-fastest time in race history. Susannah Scaroni finished third, competing three months after giving birth.