Past Victor, Rookie Win NYC Marathon

Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the women's race of the New York City Marathon for the second time in three years on Sunday, while Andreas Almgren of Sweden was victorious in his debut in the distance. Chepkirui pulled away from defending champion Hellen Obiri in the final 150 meters to seal the victory in 2 hours, 24 minutes and 36, the AP reports. "The last mile was really tricky," said Chepkirui, who also won in 2024. "I had to be patient because I knew Hellen was really strong, so I had to really push up to the finish line."

Almgren was making his debut at 26.2 miles after a successful career running half-marathons. He pulled away from Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy in the final mile to take the victory in 2:6.1. "This is my first marathon. I didn't know how I was supposed to feel," said Almgren. Crippa finished 13 seconds behind Almgren. Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho was third, edging out defending champion Benson Kipruto. Almgren's time was the third fastest in the course's 50-year history, and six runners went under 2:07 to finish in the top 10 all-time times. American Zouhair Talbi finished sixth on Sunday and ran the fastest time ever by a US runner in the event. About 60,000 runners stepped up to the starting line Sunday, with nearly half of them women. Runners from more than 140 countries competed.