Kenyan Chepkirui wins second NYC Marathon
16 sourcesUpdated Nov 1, 20261 min read
Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the New York City Marathon women's race on November 1, 2026, in 2:24:36, finishing alone. Jess McClain of the United States took second in 2:24:42. Hellen Obiri of Kenya finished third in 2:24:43. Chepkirui's time was one second off her 2024 win of 2:24:35. McClain is the first American woman on the podium since 2018. Chepkirui and Obiri broke away about four miles from the finish. Obiri surged with about a mile left; Chepkirui responded and retook the lead. McClain passed Obiri in the closing stages. Chepkirui said: "The last mile was really tricky and I had to be patient because I knew Hellen was really strong. I had to really push up to the finish line." Obiri's 2025 course-record win was 2:19:51; Chepkirui was third that year in 2:20:24. Andreas Almgren of Sweden won the men's race in 2:06:01 in his marathon debut, pulling away from Benson Kipruto with one mile left and jogging and waving across the line. Yemaneberhan Crippa finished 13 seconds back. Kamohelo Mofolo was third in 2:06:26. Almgren said: "You can't ask for a better debut. I'm about to start crying."
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“Kenyan Chepkirui wins second NYC Marathon”McClain passing Obiri at the end for second place was a nice surprise after so many years without a U.S. woman up there.
Chepkirui timed her move perfectly to drop Obiri and win in 2:24:36. Solid performance.
