Sheila Chepkirui wins New York again as Jess McClain catches Obiri for second
Chepkirui won her second New York title in 2:24:36. McClain became the first American woman on the podium since 2018, and Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner won the wheelchair races.
Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui won the women’s race at the New York City Marathon on 1 November in 2 hours 24 minutes 36 seconds, her second title in three years after her victory in 2024.
The podium was decided by seven seconds. Jess McClain of the United States was second, six seconds back in 2:24:42, after passing Hellen Obiri in the final strides. Obiri, the defending champion and course record holder, was third in 2:24:43.
McClain is the first American woman to finish in the top three in New York since 2018, the Associated Press reported.
A tactical race
The winning time was more than four and a half minutes slower than Obiri’s course record of 2:19:51 from 2025, and the splits show why. The leaders passed halfway in 1:13:52, according to FloTrack’s race tracking, and a large group was still together late in the race.
At 35 km, seven women were within a second of each other: Obiri, Chepkirui, McClain, Weini Kelati, Mercy Chelangat, Edna Kiplagat and Carrie Ellwood. Chepkirui had been at or near the front for much of the race, leading at 15, 20, 25 and 30 km.
Chepkirui and Obiri were level at 40 km, FloTrack reported. Chepkirui then pulled away, while McClain closed on Obiri over the last few hundred metres. USA Today reported that McClain caught Obiri in the final 30 metres.
McClain’s breakthrough
McClain came to New York having run the fastest Boston Marathon ever by an American woman in April. She was in the lead group throughout the closing stages and led at halfway, according to FloTrack.
According to USA Today, Americans also took sixth, seventh and eighth places, through Carrie Ellwood, Weini Kelati and Paige Wood. Kelati, the US half marathon record holder, was making her marathon debut. We could not confirm their finishing times from the reports available on race day.
Sifan Hassan, the three-time Olympic champion who had been the fastest woman on the entry list, did not start. FloTrack reported that she withdrew after illness disrupted her training.
The wheelchair races
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug won the men’s wheelchair race for the eighth time, in 1:28:14. He beat the American Daniel Romanchuk by 1.13 seconds, according to FloTrack and Yahoo Sports. Britain’s David Weir was third, more than seven minutes back, USA Today reported.
Catherine Debrunner, also of Switzerland, won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:40:02, the second-fastest time in the race’s history and 30 seconds outside her own course record. It was her second New York title. The American Tatyana McFadden was second, more than eight minutes behind, and Susannah Scaroni third. The AP reported that Scaroni was racing three months after giving birth.
The 50th five-borough race
The race marked 50 years since the marathon first ran through all five boroughs in 1976. About 60,000 runners started, nearly half of them women, according to the AP. In 1976, 88 of the just over 2,000 competitors were women.
