New York, August 19, 2026 – New York Road Runners (NYRR), the nonprofit that “runs” New York City producing 60 annual adult and youth races and providing free youth and community programming, has unveiled the professional athlete field for the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon, the best day of the year, in the best city in the world. The lineup features 3 defending champions, 40 Olympians and Paralympians, 25 Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championships medalists, and 22 national record holders.

Taking place Sunday, Nov. 1, this year’s TCS New York City Marathon will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the iconic 5-boro course, which was first run in 1976 to celebrate the nation’s Bicentennial and uplift the city. Setting the standard for the modern urban marathon, the TCS New York City Marathon has grown into one of the most inclusive and accessible sporting events in the world, bringing together nearly 60,000 participants and more than 2 million spectators to experience the transformative power of running every first Sunday of November. Last year’s race set an event record—for the second consecutive year—with 59,219 finishers, which at the time was the largest marathon in world history. To honor the legacy of the 5-boro New York City Marathon and mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark 1976 race, which was the first to feature a professional athlete field, New York Road Runners is welcoming past champions to participate in race-week festivities, including 1976 New York City Marathon men’s champion Bill Rodgers and Danielle Mika Nagel, daughter of 1976 women’s champion Miki Gorman. Rodgers holds the record for the most victories in the men’s open division, while Gorman’s back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977 made her the last American woman to win the open division until Shalane Flanagan’s historic victory in 2017.

Defending champions Hellen Obiri of Kenya, Benson Kipruto of Kenya, and Marcel Hug of Switzerland will return to headline the women’s open division and men’s open and wheelchair divisions. Last November, Obiri made history, breaking the 22-year-old course record en route to capturing her second TCS New York City Marathon title. Her compatriot Kipruto made a stunning TCS New York City Marathon debut, winning the men’s open division by less than one second in the closest men’s race in event history. Hug extended his record with a seventh TCS New York City Marathon title and completed his 15th event, making him a New York Road Runners Streaker.

Along with Obiri, the women’s open division will feature several of the world’s best runners, including 2024 TCS New York City Marathon champion Sheila Chepkirui, three-time Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, and 2025 World Athletics Championships marathon bronze medalist Julia Paternain. In one of the most impressive American fields ever assembled, half marathon record holder Weini Kelati will make her highly anticipated marathon debut. She will be joined by fellow American stars Annie Frisbie, Jess McClain, and Fiona O’Keeffe.

Facing Kipruto will be two former TCS New York City Marathon champions, Geoffrey Kamworor and Abdi Nageeye. The Americans will be led by half marathon and marathon record holder Conner Mantz, who is returning to New York for the first time since 2024; Zouhair Talbi, a two-time Houston Marathon winner and course record holder; and Joel Reichow, the top American at last year’s TCS New York City Marathon.

Hug will be accompanied by other former champions in the wheelchair division, as three-time TCS New York City Marathon champion Daniel Romanchuk and 2010 champion David Weir return. The women’s wheelchair division will also feature previous winners, including course record holder Catherine Debrunner, five-time champion Tatyana McFadden, and 2021 champion Madison de Rozario, in addition to defending United Airlines NYC Half champion Eden Rainbow-Cooper.

Before nearly 60,000 athletes traverse the five boroughs for the TCS New York City Marathon, several thousand youth ages 2–18 will kick off race week at the marathon’s official youth race, the TCS New York City Marathon Kids Kickoff. One of 20 free youth events New York Road Runners hosts throughout the year, the TCS New York City Marathon Kids Kickoff is the nonprofit’s largest, with races, dashes, games, and activities for the whole family. In 2025, nearly 2,000 youth participated.

Women’s Open Division

Last year’s TCS New York City Marathon was the fastest open division women’s race of all time, with the entire podium running at least two minutes under the old course record, which had stood since 2003. Three-time Olympic medalist Obiri rose to the top, securing her second TCS New York City Marathon title in a new event record of 2:19:51. Since then, Obiri has won the United Airlines NYC Half, finished second at the London Marathon in a new personal best of 2:15:53, and placed third at the Mastercard New York Mini 10K in June.

“Last year’s TCS New York City Marathon was a dream come true, from breaking the course record and capturing my second title to celebrating with the incredible fans who line every mile of the course,” said Obiri. “New York always brings out the best in me, and I’m excited to return and feel the energy of each borough during such a historic year.”

She will face five other women with personal bests under 2:20, including Hassan of the Netherlands, who holds the fastest time in the field, 2:13:44. Hassan, a three-time Olympic champion—including a historic feat at the Paris 2024 Olympics with medals in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and marathon—returns to marathoning after finishing sixth in her TCS New York City Marathon debut last year.

The other sub-2:20 women include 2024 TCS New York City Marathon champion Chepkirui of Kenya, who finished third last year; Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase, a two-time World Athletics Championships medalist; Kenya’s Viola Cheptoo, who recently finished sixth at the 2026 Tokyo Marathon and is the founder of the nonprofit Tirop’s Angels; and Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, a former New York City, Boston, London, and World Athletics Championships Marathon champion. Kiplagat currently holds the TCS New York City Marathon Masters women event record, 2:24:16, which she ran in 2022, placing just off the podium in fourth.

Rounding out the international field are Uruguay’s Paternain, the surprise bronze medalist at the 2025 World Athletics Championships Marathon who earned her nation’s first global running championship medal; Germany’s Fabienne Königstein, who finished sixth at the 2025 Berlin Marathon; and Italy’s Giovanna Epis, a three-time national champion who placed fifth at the 2025 European Championships Marathon.

The American field—one of the strongest in event history—is led by Kelati, the American half marathon record holder, Olympian, and five-time national champion, who will make her marathon debut. Kelati has excelled in New York, finishing first or second in four of six New York Road Runners races, and watched last year’s marathon from the women’s open division lead vehicle. She will be joined by Frisbie, the fifth-place finisher and second American at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon; McClain, who broke the American course record in Boston this past April; and O’Keeffe, the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials champion and top American at last year’s TCS New York City Marathon in an American course record. The group also includes national champion and 25K national record holder Carrie Ellwood; two-time national champion and fastest American-born Black woman in the marathon Erika Kemp; and national champion Amanda Vestri, who finished ninth in her TCS New York City Marathon debut last November.

Men's Open Division

In his TCS New York City Marathon debut last November, Kipruto outkicked Alexander Mutiso by three hundredths of a second to win by the smallest margin of victory in race history. The 2024 Paris Olympic Marathon bronze medalist now has victories at four Abbott World Marathon Majors: the 2021 Boston Marathon, 2022 Chicago Marathon, 2024 Tokyo Marathon, and 2025 TCS New York City Marathon. In April, he placed third at the Boston Marathon, running under the previous course record of 2:03:02.

“My first experience at the TCS New York City Marathon was unforgettable, and I am thrilled to return,” said Kipruto. “Every major marathon is important, but New York has a unique atmosphere and community. The competition will be particularly strong, and I’m eager to defend my title on one of the sport’s biggest stages.”

Kipruto will be up against two former TCS New York City Marathon champions, 2017 and 2019 victor Kamworor and 2024 champion Nageeye. A five-time world champion, Kenya’s Kamworor has finished on the podium in four out of five TCS New York City Marathon appearances. Nageeye’s victory in 2024 marked his first Abbott World Marathon Majors win as he became the first Dutch athlete to win the men’s open division.

Other international contenders include a trio making their TCS New York City Marathon debuts: Ethiopia’s Deresa Geleta, the 2025 Tokyo Marathon runner-up, who holds the second-fastest personal best in the field; Ethiopia’s Huseydin Mohamed Esa, the 2026 Cape Town Marathon champion and 2024 runner-up in Boston and Chicago; and Kenya’s CyBrian Kotut, the 2024 Berlin Marathon runner-up and 2025 Boston Marathon third-place finisher. Great Britain’s Patrick Dever will return, after making his marathon debut in New York last year and finishing third. The international group is chock-full of national record holders: Andreas Almgren, the Swedish and European record holder at 5,000 meters and half marathon who was just crowned the 2026 European champion in the 10,000 meters in a new championship record time of 27:23, making his marathon debut; Iliass Aouani, the Italian marathon record holder and bronze medalist at the 2025 World Athletics Championships Marathon; Yeman Crippa, the Italian record holder at 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, 5K, and half marathon, and six-time European Championships medalist; Peter Lynch, the Irish marathon record holder; and Haftu Strintzos, the Australian marathon record holder and 2024 Oceania champion at 10,000 meters.

The Americans will feature a showdown between Mantz, the half marathon and marathon record holder, who recently became a father, and Talbi, the top American at the Boston Marathon in April. Mantz returns to the marathon distance after a stellar performance at the 2025 Chicago Marathon, finishing fourth in a new American record. Talbi’s time in Boston, 2:03:45, was a new American course record and the fastest marathon by an American ever, on any course. Mantz and Talbi recently met at the Falmouth Road Race, where Talbi edged Mantz by two seconds to run a new American course record and place third.

Other top Americans include two-time Olympic medalist in the 5,000 meters Paul Chelimo, running his first New York Road Runners race since 2021; national champion and 25K American record holder Casey Clinger; Ryan Ford, the sixth-fastest American half marathoner of all time; Olympian and 2022 10,000-meter national champion Joe Klecker, who made his 26.2-mile debut last year in New York; and Reichow, who finished fifth at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon as the first American.

Women’s Wheelchair Division

Two athletes from the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon podium will be making their returns to the Big Apple this year, with Switzerland’s Debrunner—last year’s third-place finisher—and American McFadden—the runner-up—looking to break the tape in November.

“I am always eager to return to New York City each November,” said McFadden. “Every year, I know that I will be pushing myself against the best in the world, and there is no better way to close out the World Marathon Majors season than by racing through the five boroughs.”

McFadden is the most decorated American track and field athlete in history, with a staggering 22 Paralympic medals to her name. She is also the 2026 Mastercard New York Mini 10K champion and is seeking a record-breaking sixth TCS New York City Marathon title this year.

The TCS New York City Marathon women’s wheelchair course record holder, Debrunner, won the race in 2023. The Swiss athlete has won 12 Abbott World Marathon Majors, including this year’s Tokyo Marathon and London Marathon.

Other contenders in this year’s field include Great Britain’s Rainbow-Cooper, the reigning United Airlines NYC Half and Boston Marathon champion, and 2021 TCS New York City Marathon Champion and Paralympic gold medalist de Rozario of Australia.

The 2026 TCS New York City Marathon women’s open and wheelchair division fields are presented by Mastercard®.

Men's Wheelchair Division

Defending champion and course record holder Hug will look to add to his record seven TCS New York City Marathon victories as he leads a strong men’s wheelchair division. Hug has won four of the last five years and has already secured victories in Tokyo, Boston, and London this year.

“Racing through the streets of New York City is always a highlight of my year,” said Hug. “I am still amazed by the energy of the spectators lining the streets that give me the strength to compete with an incredible field.”,

The entirety of last year’s podium will return, with Japan’s Tomoki Suzuki and Great Britain’s Weir seeking to dethrone Hug. Suzuki, a three-time Tokyo Marathon champion, finished third in New York in 2024 and 2025. Weir, the 2010 New York City Marathon champion, is one of the most accomplished wheelchair racers in history.

Also returning is three-time TCS New York City Marathon champion Romanchuk. The American star won the race in 2018, 2019, and 2024 before an injury left him unable to defend his title last year. Romanchuk’s 2018 victory was historic, as he became the first American and youngest athlete to ever win the men’s wheelchair division at the TCS New York City Marathon. He won the United Airlines NYC Half earlier this year and secured second place at the Boston Marathon less than a month later.

Also competing for the title will be Jetze Plat of the Netherlands, a Paralympic champion in both cycling and the triathlon and 2023 United Airlines NYC Half champion, and Evan Correll, who finished as the top American at last year’s TCS New York City Marathon. The newly crowned T54 100-meter national champion, Correll has finished on the United Airlines NYC Half podium every year since 2023.

2026 TCS New York City Marathon Women's Open Division

NR = National Record

2026 TCS New Yok City Marathon Men's Open Division

NR = National Record

2026 TCS New Yok City Marathon Women's Wheelchair Division

WR = World Record

NR = National Record

2026 TCS New Yok City Marathon Men's Wheelchair Division

NR = National Record

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About the History of the New York City Marathon (1970-2026)

Initially run in 1970 as four-plus laps of Central Park with 55 finishers, the New York City Marathon left the park and was run through the five boroughs for the first time on Oct. 24, 1976, to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial and uplift the city. The landmark move set the standard for the modern marathon event. This year, New York Road Runners is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 5-boro marathon course and setting a goal of raising $100 million for its Official Charity Partner Program, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Produced by the world's premier running organization, today the TCS New York City Marathon is consistently one of the largest marathons in the world, bringing together nearly 60,000 participants and more than two million spectators for the best day of the year, in the best city in the world.

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About New York Road Runners (NYRR)

A New York City-based nonprofit, New York Road Runners’ vision is to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running – serving more than a half a million people annually through its races, free community events, youth running initiatives, and school-based programs across the five boroughs. During its nearly 70 years, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization, producing more than 60 adult and youth races each year, including the TCS New York City Marathon. Held the first Sunday each November, the TCS New York City Marathon features nearly 60,000 runners—from the world’s best professional athletes to a vast range of runners across experience levels, ages, genders, abilities, and backgrounds. To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.