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(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. NEW YORK (01-Nov) -- For just the fourth time in race history, a marathon debutante won the men's division of the TCS New York City Marathon.  Andreas Almgren of Sweden, the reigning world half-marathon champion, ran a brilliant tactical race, surging away from Italy's Yemane Crippa in the final kilometer to win 2:06:01.  The 31-year-old became the first Swede, male or female, to win in New York, and his time was the second-fastest ever by a Swedish man (he missed the national record by just four seconds).  He won $100,000 in prize money. "This is my first marathon, so I didn't know how this was supposed to feel," he said at the post-race press conference.  He said of his strategy: "I'm just going to respond to everything." Indeed he did, and with just the right amount of effort.  Like a champion surfer, Almgren patiently waited as conditions changed around him.  He coasted through the first 10 kilometers with a lead pack of about 25 men (30:52) and didn't worry that the leaders were only on pace to run about 2:10. "That's one of the reasons I wanted to race in New York," Almgren said.  "It's not about the time." Predictably, the pace quickened in the middle of the race.  The next 10 kilometers were covered in 29:58, and the halfway mark was reached in 1:04:01.  At that point American Zouhair Talbi had a three-second lead after putting in a quick burst of speed, but the pack was all back together by the top of the Queensboro Bridge where the 25-K point is located.  Sixteen men remained with the lead group, including podium favorites Benson Kipruto of Kenya (the defending champion), Crippa, Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia, and Conner Mantz of the United States. Almgren stayed close to the front, but wasn't pushing the pace.  He stayed alert and kept tabs on his rivals. "You get a lot of ups and downs," he said of how a marathon unfolds.  He added: "I started to feel a bit fatigued." The pace flattened between 30 and 35 kilometers (split time of 15:07) and 15 people were still in the lead pack.  Something had to give.  In the 38th kilometer in Central Park Almgren, Kipruto, Crippa and Talbi got away, and by the 40-K mark Talbi was six seconds back.  Behind him, 21 year-old Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho had moved up from the chase group and was in fifth position, four seconds behind Talbi. The 40th kilometer was covered in about 2:49, and that was too fast for Kipruto.  The Kenyan fell back, leaving Crippa and Almgren to fight for the win. "Suddenly, it was just us two," Almgren recalled. Almgren and Crippa know each other well, and are closely matched in their athletic ability.  But the Swede came from a middle-distance background and has an 800m personal best of 1:45.59 (3:32.00 for 1500m).  Nevertheless, Almgren did not want to rely on his speed and started pushing on the gently uphill section of Central Park South (West 59th Street) before the right-hand turn into Central Park.  A gap started to open. "On 59th Street I got a little bit of a gap," Almgren said.  He added: "I didn't think it was going to be that quick of a finish." By the time he strode onto the park's loop road, the gap was too big for Crippa to overcome.  Taking in the huge crowds bathed in gorgeous fall sunshine, Almgren waved his right hand and encouraged the fans to cheer.  He was thrilled with his win, even if he just missed the national record. "It would be nice to have a 2:05 time," said Almgren, who ran his second half in a very fast 1:01:57.  "But I'd rather have the win." Crippa came home second in 2:06:14, and Mofolo managed to move from fifth place at 40-K to third at the finish.  He's the first man from Lesotho to make the podium at the race.  Kipruto finished fourth (2:06:17) and Australia's Haftu Strintzos, who competed at Villanova during his NCAA career, took fifth (2:06:34).  Talbi, who put in several surges during the race and was in fourth place at the 40-K mark, finished sixth and was the top American in 2:06:43.  His time was the fastest ever by an American at this race. "Today was definitely a tough race," he told the media.  He added: "By 30-K I just felt flat for some reason.  I just didn't feel that pop." The women's race was even more of a nail-biter.  A field of 27 elite women took off from Staten Island 30 minutes ahead of the men, and they were in no hurry.  Nearly the entire field was together through 5-K (18:23) and 10-K (35:45).  Things picked up a bit in the third five-kilometer segment (17:14), but there were still 17 women within five seconds of the leaders, Sheila Chepkirui and Hellen Obiri of Kenya, the overwhelming favorites for victory.  Chepkirui had won New York in 2024, and was third last year.  Obiri won in 2025 and 2023 and was second in 2024. Through halfway, 11 women remained at the front including six Americans: Jessica McClain, Carrie Ellwood, Amanda Vestri, Lauren Hagans, Weini Kelati, and Annie Frisbie.  McClain, the fastest-ever American woman at the Boston Marathon, had come into the race with big goals.  She felt like a completely different athlete than when she last ran here in 2024 and finished eighth. "I had high goals for this weekend," McClain said after the race.  She continued: "I wanted to compete for the podium." The climb up the Queensboro Bridge to the 25-K mark did little to whittle down the field, although Hagans and Vestri drifted back and would finish 13th (2:29:42) and 16th (2:30:16), respectively.  It wasn't until the Willis Avenue Bridge, which connects Manhattan to the Bronx at the 31-K mark, that the most consequential moves began to happen.  Ascending the bridge, Kenya's Mercy Chelangat abruptly stopped and began to throw up.  Remarkably, she recovered and got back in the lead pack before the race headed back into Manhattan over the Third Avenue Bridge. The field was now down to seven: Obiri, Chepkirui, McClain, Kelati, Chelangat, 47 year-old Edna Kiplagat, and Ellwood.  Chepkirui felt like she had to do something. "I had to push," Chepkirui said.  "I pushed around six kilometers (to go), so somebody had to make a move so I was that person." Chepkirui went to the front and Obiri followed her immediately, and the pair ran 16:24 from 35 to 40 kilometers.  McClain and Chelangat stayed together behind the Kenyan duo and were able to keep them in sight.  One of the former champions would win again, but which one?  The race would not be decided until the final 400 meters.  Chepkirui led by one second, but Obiri --who won two Olympic silver medals at 5000m-- has great speed. "I knew Hellen was really strong," said Chepkirui, who ran her second half in 1:10:43 and, like Almgren, earned $100,000 in prize money.  "I knew I had to push to the finish line." Obiri was simply too exhausted to keep up with Chepkirui, who won her second TCS New York City Marathon in 2:24:36.  It looked like Obiri would get second, but the tenacious McClain was still pushing.  She erased a four-second deficit with 400 meters to go, and caught Obiri just before the tape to finish second in 2:24:42 to Obiri's 2:24:43.  She became the first American woman to get on the podium here since Shalane Flanagan in 2018. "You just never know how it's going to play out," said McClain  "It's not over til it's over." Kiplagat, twice the world marathon champion, took fourth in 2:25:42, the fastest time ever at this race for a woman in the 45 to 49 age group.  Chelangat, despite her stomach troubles, finished fifth in 2:25:46.  Ellwood was sixth in 2:26:28, and Kelati made a creditable marathon debut in 2:26:51 in seventh place.  With Paige Wood finishing eighth in 2:27:29, four Americans finished in the top-10. In the professional wheelchair races, Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland emerged victorious.  Hug won for the eighth time, but not without a struggle.  He had to take down top American Daniel Romanchuk in the final sprint to the line.  Hug was clocked in 1:28:14, just one second ahead of Romanchuk. "I was trying to attack and get away from him, especially in the second half," said Hug, who clinched the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors wheelchair title with his win here today.  He added: "Just before the finish I catch him." Debrunner steamrolled the field on the women's side, winning by more than eight minutes in 1:40:02.  She, too, clinched the 2026 Abbott World Marathon Majors wheelchair title. Both wheelchair winners won $50,000 in prize money. ** The number of official finishers will not be known until late tonight, but race organizers expect more than 60,000.  That would make it the largest marathon in world history. PHOTO: Andreas Almgren of Sweden and Yemane Crippa of Italy at the 25-mile point of the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly) PHOTO: Sheila Chepkirui and Hellen Obiri of Kenya at the 25-mile mark of the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

  (c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. NEW YORK (31-Oct) -- Former University of New Mexico star Habtom Samuel started off his official pro running career with a bang this morning, winning the 14th edition of the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K by a comfortable seven seconds.  The 22-year-old Eritrean, who recently joined HOKA Northern Arizona Elite under coach Jack Mullaney, clocked a solid 13:31 over the hilly course from the United Nations to Tavern on the Green in Central Park.  He said he had his eyes on winning the first place prize of $6000 right from the gun. "That's what I wanted," Samuel told Race Results Weekly.  "I was trying, you know, from the beginning to just try to push the pace and make it an honest race." Amon Kemboi of Puma Elite Running, the men's defending champion, took the race out hard from the gun.  Nobody wanted to be left behind, and the pack remained tightly bunched through the first mile.  Running across East 42nd Street the athletes cast long shadows in front of them as the sun was still low over the East River behind them.  Latvian Arturs Medveds, who ran for California Baptist during his NCAA career, was on the front with Kemboi and Kenyan Edwin Kurgat. Samuel and Kemboi were the first athletes to make the right turn onto the Avenue of the Americas just before hitting the one-mile mark in a not-too-quick 4:28.  The pack stayed together in the second mile through the right turn onto Central Park South, then the sharp left into Central Park.  The pace was steady (4:27 for the second mile), and Medveds was the first man to enter the park, but only by a step. Samuel, who had drifted back slightly, was running on the right side of the course.  He shot a few glances to his left to size up the field, then surged up the hill on Park Road, the toughest uphill on the course.  Kemboi responded immediately, and Kurgat also tried to keep up. "I can say I have some strengths on the hills," said Samuel, the 2025 NCAA cross country champion.  "So I see the whole group was together and I make a move.  I'm glad I did it." At the top of the hill, Samuel made a sharp left onto the park's loop road and Kemboi was right on his heels.  Running downhill past the Michael Friedsam Memorial Carousel, Samuel began to pull away from Kemboi.  The gap would only grow as he ran around the south end of the park before taking on the final uphill to the famous TCS New York City Marathon finish line.  Samuel playfully waved his arms, like a bird flying, as he broke the tape. "Feeling great, feeling amazing," said Samuel after a reporter pointed out that he had begun his Hoka pro career with a win (he had an NIL deal with Hoka while he was in college).  "It's kind of a good wish to win my first pro road race in this beautiful city.  I'm so happy." Kemboi --who worked as a pacemaker at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon 20 days ago, and earlier this year received U.S. citizenship through his service in the U.S. Army-- was rolled-up by Kurgat in the final kilometer, and had to settle for third in 13:40.  Kurgat (Under Armour), who will defend his Manchester Road Race title on Thanksgiving Day in Manchester, Conn., took second in 13:38.  Two Australians, Jackson Sharp (Hoka NAZ Elite) and Morgan McDonald (On Athletics Club), finished fourth and fifth in 13:41 and 13:46, respectively. The women's race played out in a similar fashion.  Josette Andrews of the On Athletics Club established a solid early pace, hitting the one-mile mark in 5:11.  She was joined on the front by Bailey Hertenstein (Nike) and reigning U.S. 20K champion Rachael Rudel (Unattached) was close behind. "I found myself in the lead," Andrews told reporters.  "I didn't really want to push it too, too hard, early." She added: "Just riding the front, but not really doing anything with the front." Andrews led the field into the park and had former University of Florida athlete Hilda Olemomoi (Hoka Northern Arizona Elite), a Kenyan, just off of her left shoulder.  The pack hit two miles in 10:12, and most of the contenders were still in the mix.  But three-time defending champion Annie Rodenfels (Salomon Running) was some 20 meters back and was not able to catch-up. She would finish seventh in 16:03. Unlike in the men's race, where the hill on Park Road thinned the field, six women were still together at the Carousel in the third mile: Andrews, Rudel, Olemomoi, Hertenstein, Ednah Kurgat, and Madie Boreman.  Around the bottom of the park, Rudel pressed the pace and she, Andrews and Kurgat broke free of the pack.  Rudel pushed again with about 900 meters to go, and Kurgat also fell back.  Shaking Andrews was not easy. "She was strong, man," Rudel said of Andrews. The race then became a battle between speed and strength.  Andrews is a 3:59.72 1500m runner, and Rudel is the reigning national 20-K champion.  The last 800 meters is almost all uphill, and that gave Rudel an edge.  She gently pulled away from Andrews to get the win in a personal best 15:35, good for $6000 in prize money. "When I drifted away a little before the 800 (meters to go), I was very shocked," Rudel said.  "I thought she was on my butt the entire time.  That's why I was like flailing, trying to sprint at the end.  I was shocked on this one.  Very shocked." Rudel, 32, who does not have a kit sponsor but said she was in talks with several brands, has won four road races so far this year and has made the podium at four more.  She has already qualified for Team USATF for the 2027 World Athletics Road Running Championships in March, and recorded the fastest-ever time by an American woman at the high-altitude Bolder Boulder 10-K (32:46).  She hopes to make the Olympic team in the marathon in 2028. "I think when I got to the starting line I had no expectations," Rudel said.  "This is a fun year.  I'm trying to see what I can do, and it's just like worked out really well, for this race particularly."  She added: "This one was really no expectations.  I have not been training for a 5K." Hertenstein (15:46) and Olemomoi (15:47) rounded out the top-5. Today's event, which was held in near-perfect conditions (56F/13C with 50% humidity), saw 11,712 athletes cross the finish line, a race record.  In the mass race, representatives of the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors events took part, and long-time BMW Berlin Marathon race director Mark Milde was the fastest of that group, clocking 18:42 at age 53. "This is my big moment," he said with a smile before receiving his award. ** The TCS New York City Marathon will take place here tomorrow morning.  Full information about how to watch the race is posted here: https://www.nyrr.org/news/2026/10/26/new-york-road-runners-announces-2026-tcs-new-york-city-marathon-broadcast-information PHOTO: Rachael Rudel celebrates her victory at the 2026 Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5-K in New York (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved NEW YORK (29-Oct) -- Chatting with reporters from behind a small table this morning in the TCS New York City Marathon's media center, six-time national champion Weini Kelati was deliberate and composed.  The 29 year-old, who will make her long-awaited marathon debut this Sunday, has been racking-up trouble-free 100-mile training weeks in Flagstaff, Ariz., the kind of training that builds not only fitness, but confidence. "I don't have a pressure because I don't know what it's going to feel like," Kelati said in response to a reporter's question.  "Of course, I'm moving up to a new distance.  I'm a little nervous, but very excited." Kelati, the national record holder for the half-marathon (1:06:04), will join a proud lineage of American women who ran their first marathons in New York, including Deena Kastor (2001), Kara Goucher (2008), Shalane Flanagan (2010), and Molly Huddle (2016).  Goucher, Flanagan and Huddle all made the podium in their debuts, and Kelati said it was "very inspiring" to follow in their footsteps. "I've been watching their race, and (they) are the runners that I looked up to," said Kelati, who was originally from Eritrea but became eligible to represent the United States in international competition in the summer of 2021.  "It's great to have my debut in New York City here, so hopefully I'll surprise myself." The TCS New York City Marathon uses an all-women's elite race without pacemakers, so Kelati will have the extra challenge of watching her competitors closely and deciding which moves to cover.  Stephen Haas, Kelati's manager who also helps coach her, said she's ready for that and has a simple plan. "We won't be doing any leading," he said flatly. Kelati should feel very comfortable in the lead pack for the first half.  For the last three editions of the race, the women's race winner has passed through halfway in 1:11:01, 1:13:59, and 1:14:23, respectively.  Those times are easily achievable by Kelati, who last month finished sixth at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in the half-marathon in a time of 1:06:35.  With her coach, fiancé, and training partner Abrham Tesfamariam, she has upped her mileage from 60 to 100 miles per week and has been doing long runs up to 25 miles. "It's been amazing," she said of how her body has responded to the increased mileage.  "It's kind of like surprising myself in every workout because I thought it was going to get harder as a middle-distance runner.  Every time I add a little mileage, any change, I adapted very quick.  It was good." Kelati and her team have high expectations, and feel that New York is the best fit for her debut.  She said today that although she sometimes misses the track, she's targeting the marathon for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and is hoping that New York will help get her there.  Under World Athletics rules if she finishes in the top five she will be credited with an Olympic Games qualifying mark regardless of time (that is true for all of the races in the Abbott World Marathon Majors).  The qualifying window opens on Sunday. "I think the biggest thing for me was for her first one I did not want the pressure of trying to target a time," Haas explained.  "Like if we went to Chicago, or somewhere flat that was a paced race, we would get too caught up on time.  If you think about the Marathon Trials (in March, 2028), it's not going to be a paced race.  It's going to be a race." And for the race here, Haas is optimistic that Kelati could join Flanagan, Goucher and Huddle as a top three finisher. "The podium, maybe," said Tesfamariam when asked about his expectations for Kelati's performance. "The podium would be awesome," chimed in Hass.  "She's got the ability to get on the podium for sure." The only hiccup in Kelati's training was an unspecified illness during the summer which hampered her training.  Before the World Championships in the half-marathon on September 27, her most recent race before that was on June 6. "Well, first I took off to get ready for the marathon build-up," Kelati explained.  "At the same time I had a little sickness going on.  We got to treat this little sickness that was preventing me from pushing myself to the limit.  That's what I've been doing.  Going to Copenhagen was such a relief to see how much better I felt during that race." Kelati will be facing a top-class field led by two former race champions, Hellen Obiri and Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya.  Obiri won in 2023, took second in 2024, and won again in 2025.  Chepkirui won in 2024 (beating Obiri), and took third in 2025.  Both women are cagey racers, and Kelati said she is ready for anything. "I don't have to worry about the pacemakers, I guess, because all these amazing women are going to push from the beginning," Kelati said.  "This course is a little bit hard and different from other courses.  It's not flat.  You have to stay patient, just get through the race.  My job is to stay focused and not get too excited early in the race because it's a marathon." ** At this year's edition of the TCS New York City Marathon race organizers are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first five-borough edition of the race in 1976 (the first six editions were held in Central Park).  New York Road Runners CEO Rob Simmelkjaer told the media today that Sunday's race would likely have over 60,000 finishers which would make it the largest marathon in history.  The race will be broadcast to nearly 500 million homes across 160+ countries and territories, including on ESPN2 nationally and ABC7/WABC-TV NY locally. PHOTO: Weini Kelati in Central Park three days before the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon where she will make her marathon debut (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. CHICAGO (09-Oct) -- Adriaan Wildschutt has spent an unusual amount of time at home in Flagstaff this summer where he trains with the HOKA Northern Arizona Elite team. The 28 year-old South African, who starred at Florida State during his NCAA career, ran his last race on June 21 when he took second at the B.A.A. 10K in Boston. Since then he has had a singular focus: making a successful marathon debut here at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday. "Adriaan is somebody who can train for a long period of time, show up on race day, and nail it," his coach Jack Mullaney told Race Results Weekly in a telephone interview yesterday. "Other athletes like a tune-up race. We had talked about doing one, but he was rolling and got a good rhythm in training. He just kind of said, why get on a plane, risk getting sick, go all the way out there when I can just do a harder session here in Flagstaff? So that's the path we chose to go." But Wildschutt has not been alone. He has had company on some of his runs from his older brother, Nadeel, who is also a member of the team and will also be running here in Chicago. He's also had another teammate, Kenyan Alex Masai, accompany him by bicycle and provide valuable encouragement and advice. Masai, who finished third in Chicago last year in a personal best and team record of 2:04:37, had hoped to race here again this year but a minor injury during the summer derailed his training. Unselfishly, he changed his focus to helping Wildschutt. "He's the unsung hero of this build because he, of course, was scheduled to run this race this October, but picked up a little injury in July, " Mullaney explained. He continued: "He's been so instrumental in biking with Adriaan and Nadeel on their long runs and showing up to practice and biking with them and providing them with advice. For someone who is a podium finisher from last year I don't think you could have a better person providing reassurance. I think Alex Masai gets a lot of credit." Wildschutt won the United Airlines NYC Half last March in 59:30, a race held on a hilly course and in near-freezing conditions. In that competition he had to call on all of his competitive instincts to decide how and when to move, and showed his mastery of head-to-head racing. But here in Chicago he hopes to tuck into a pack which will be going at American record pace (2:04:43) and click off one 2:57 kilometer after another. If he can do that he would shatter Elroy Gelant's South African record of 2:05:36. "The American group that is going for the American record, that puts me in a group of people I can run with," Wildschutt told Race Results Weekly in an interview here today. "I don't have to check my watch, I don't have to worry about the mileage, I don't have to worry about anything. All I need to focus on is grab my carb drinks and stay on pace and relax." Wildschutt said today that his primary focus for this Olympic cycle is to compete well in the marathon at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. To get there Mullaney has a two-year plan which begins with Sunday's race. "We started to look at the Olympic cycle and worked backwards from L.A.," Mullaney said. "One of the things we didn't want to do was go into the Olympics feeling like a rookie in the marathon. We wanted to have a couple under Adriaan's belt and expose him to a couple of different situations." Mullaney saw Chicago as the ideal first marathon for Wildschutt. "I want Adriaan to come away from this experience with an excitement and a motivation to do the second one," Mullaney said. "One of the ways we can increase the chances of this is to have a course that's pretty flat, and a first 25 to 30-K that's pretty predictable." Interestingly, Wildschutt has already participated in a marathon as a pacemaker. At the Cape Town Marathon last May, he was tasked with running halfway at a 2:05 pace. Despite only having about six weeks of training under his belt, he felt good and decided to keep going. "I was supposed to pace through 21K, but between me and coach we were deciding between 25 and 30-K," Wildschutt said. "Once I got to 25-K, I also talked to the organizer before the race and asked him if I do feel good, am I allowed to go on further? I wanted to let them know they couldn't count on me for pacing after 21K. I want to do what I want to do, and they were completely fine with that." Wildschutt cycled to the back of the pack after 25K, but the pace quickly slowed down. Wildschutt felt strong and decided to put in a surge. "I went all the way for the next 10 kilometers and I dropped the field by 30 seconds," Wildschutt recounted. "I got to 35, 36-K. That's where the field caught up to me and I decided to stop. I was very fatigued." "I give him a lot of grace for this," said Mullaney. "This was totally uncharted territory for him. Without an experience in running the marathon you really don't know what you're getting into." He added: "I think he got a lot of confidence from going that far into the race on a much more challenging course than Chicago." While breaking the South African record would be great, it's not Wildschutt's primary goal. As talented and as accomplished as he is --he already has the national 10,000m and half-marathon records of 26:50.64 and 59:13, respectively-- he's only at the beginning of his marathon journey. He hopes to learn as much as he can about the event so that he can be competitive for the Olympics in 2028. "It's a primary goal, but I don't think about it," he said of the South African record. "I'm focusing on the American record group, and I need to stay with them. I want the record to come as a by-product of what I did there." Running at a sub-2:05 pace is a tall order for any marathon debutante, but Wildschutt is confident that those three dedicated months at home in Flagstaff pounding out the miles has prepared him well. "I know that I'm fit," he said without hesitating. "The data indicates that I'm fit. All the workouts that I've done indicate that I'm in a great spot to run with the American record group. I wouldn't have decided on that if my training wasn't suggesting it." Coach Mullaney agreed. "He's very capable of training for a long period of time, then showing up and executing," Mullaney said. "I think that comes from the fact that he expects a lot from himself in practice and holds himself to a really high standard." PHOTO: Adriaan Wildschutt in Chicago two days before the 2026 Bank of America Chicago Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission COPENHAGEN (20-Sep) -- Agnes Ngetich absolutely destroyed a high-class field in the half-marathon this morning at the second World Athletics Road Running Championships.  The 25 year-old Kenyan, who already earned a world title earlier this year at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships, ran alone through the streets of the Danish capital to a women's only world record of 1:05:15.  She won by a hefty 50 seconds, and became the first woman in history to win both the world cross country and half-marathon titles in the same year. But Ngetich endured a painful final 400 meters.  She had the gold medal in the bag, but she wasn't sure if she could eclipse Peres Jepchirchir's women-only world record of 1:05:16.  With the sun at her back, she gave it everything she had in the final push to the line. "I thought I missed the world record by two seconds or three seconds," Ngetich told Race Results Weekly while wrapped in a Kenyan flag.  "It's me alone and a strong wind coming to us.  I was like, let me just try." Her one-second margin over Jepchirchir's record was worth a USD 50,000 bonus from World Athletics which will be added to her first place prize money of USD 30,000 (she will surely receive an additional bonus from her kit sponsor, adidas).  Winning the race was more important, she said, but getting the record was a nice bonus. "If I don't get it, it's OK; I have a medal already," Ngetich recalled telling herself in those final meters.  "I'm so happy because I still got the world record." Ngetich used the same simple strategy today that she employed to become world cross country champion in Tallahassee last January: push right from the gun.  She split the first kilometer in three minutes flat, and went through 5K in 15:12.  She already had a ten-second gap on her nearest chaser by that point, Florence Niyonkuru of Rwanda, a gap which would grow to 26 seconds by 10K (30:39).  The athletes in the chase pack --eight women strong-- quickly began to focus on each other, instead.  Ngetich was just too far ahead. "I noticed Agnes taking off but I knew I had to stick to my own pace," said Ngetich's teammate Veronica Loleo.  "She was going too fast from the very beginning.  So I decided to go with the pack." Unaware of how far ahead she was, Ngetich kept pressing.  She stayed focused on her splits, and imagined what it would be like to earn another gold medal. "Adding another medal to my gallery, I'm so happy," she said.  "I'm so grateful." The battle for the silver and bronze medals was intense.  That chase pack of eight women at 10K dwindled to just three by 20K: Niyonkuru, Loleo, and another Kenyan, Daisilah Jerono.  Americans Emma Grace Hurley, Weini Kelati, and Jess McClain were just a few seconds back (as a team they were in the silver medal position behind Kenya).  In the final 100 meters before the finish, Loleo was able to sprint away from Niyonkuru to take the silver in 1:06:05.  Niyonkuru was already clear of Jerono, and got the bronze in a national record 1:06:08. "I didn't expect to be on the podium, so for me I'm very happy," said Loleo.  "It is my first championships. This first championship medal I will award to my family and coach." Hurley, who is training for her marathon debut at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 11, finished an impressive fifth in 1:06:23.  Her mark was not only a personal best, but also a USA national record for an all-women's race.  Kelati, the USA open record holder, ran 1:06:35 for sixth, and McClain got seventh in a personal best 1:06:53. "I'm very excited," said Hurley, who also owns the national record for 8K on the roads.  "I was super-focused on being in the top 10 today, and it's exciting to come away with a women's record as well.  I have been so happy all week just to be here, and I was so excited for the opportunity to race against the best of the best." Remarkably, both Hurley and McClain were in danger of being left off the team after they were misdirected off course while leading at the national half-marathon championships last March in Atlanta which was used as the team selection race.  But thanks to behind-the-scenes work by USATF, the United States was allowed to enter a larger team for these championships where Hurley, McClain and Ednah Kurgat (the three misdirected athletes) could join the other women who were selected based on the official order of finish (Team USATF was still limited to four athletes who were eligible to score). "It was really important to us to send the strongest possible team to compete against the best in the world here today," said Jay Holder, USATF's communications chief.  He continued: "We wanted to send our strongest team, but we wanted to honor our selection process.  So, we worked hand-in-hand with World Athletics, and they worked really hard to help us achieve those goals." The official team results had Kenya with the gold medal (3:17:33 total time for their best three finishers), USA second (3:19:51), and Ethiopia third (3:22:40). ALMGREN OUTLASTS KIPKORIR FOR MEN'S GOLD The men's race was a closely-contested affair between four athletes: Andreas Almgren of Sweden, Nicholas Kipkorir of Kenya, Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and Tadese Worku of Ethiopia.  They were the final survivors of an early break made possible by a from-the-gun surge by American record holder Conner Mantz, then incessant pushing by Kipkorir.  The quartet went through 15K in 41:47, and over the next five kilometers Worku was dropped (he would finish fourth in a personal best 58:35). Kipkorir thought that a fast pace was his best strategy. "I decided to push because there was a strong team in the field," Kipkorir told Race Results Weekly, referring to his competitors.  "It was not easy, that is why I decided to push to make a smaller group to go to finishing." In the final six kilometers, Cheptegei struggled to stay in contact with Kipkorir and Almgren.  The two-time Olympic gold medalist would gain a stride, then lose a stride, and managed to get to 20-K with both of his opponents.  But in the final kilometer, when Kipkorir picked up the pace again, Cheptegei fell back.  The three-time world 10,000m champion who won the world marathon title in 2020 would finish third in 58:26, a personal best. "The race was really, really good and I'm so happy to be in the podium again," Cheptegei told reporters.  "After three years of not running in my national colors, it felt really good to fight for position.  I'm grateful for third place today." The battle for gold came down to the final 100 meters.  Kipkorir surged several times, but Almgren --the European 10,000m champion-- covered every move.  Finally as the pair crossed the 21K mark just before the finish, Almgren launched an all-out sprint and put a five-second gap on Kipkorir by the finish.  Almgren, who will make his marathon debut in New York on November 1, ran a European record 58:06 and became the first European world half-marathon champion since Italy's Stefano Baldini in 1996. "It means so much," said Almgren, who appeared to be in a state of disbelief.  "I've had quite a few problems in my career, a lot of fourth places in the Europeans and I got a bronze at the World last year (in the 10,000m), and I was like, now I need to start getting the gold medals.  To get the gold medal first in Birmingham in the 10K (at the European Championships) and be world champion in the half-marathon means so much." Kipkorir was upbeat and genuinely pleased with his silver medal. "I'm feeling great for securing the silver medal in the world road championship 2026," said Kipkorir.  "I am proud to have the silver.  That was my prayers: to be a bronze, silver or gold." Mantz, who spent most of 2026 recovering from two sacral stress fractures, finished 12th in 1:00:08 and helped Team USATF secure the bronze medal in a total time of 3:01:34 (Kenya got the gold in 2:56:30 and Ethiopia the silver in 2:59:47).  He was happy to be back at the top level of the sport. "Last night my coach (Ed Eyestone) called me and talked through the game plan," Mantz said.  "The game plan was just to be grateful out there.  Be grateful to be in the race again.  Felt grateful through 10K (his split was 27:55), but by the time I was running three-minute kilometers it was less gratitude and more regret for thinking I could get a medal today.  My workouts are going well, but that doesn't mean I'm in peak fitness." Mantz, the USA marathon record holder with a 2:04:43 personal best, will run the TCS New York City Marathon in November. **   This was the 26th edition of the World Half-Marathon championships which was rolled into the World Athletics Road Running Championships (along with the mile and 5K) for the first time in Riga, Latvia, in 2023.  This is the second time that the World Half-Marathon Championships was held in Copenhagen. The first time was in 2014 and it was at that event that the elite races were married with a mass-participation event for the first time.  Today, some 45,000 runners competed in the mass race behind the elites. PHOTO: Agnes Ngetich of Kenya just after winning the 2026 world-half-marathon championships in a women-only world record of 1:05:15 (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)