New York marks 50 years of its five-borough marathon
· BehindLines newsroom
The New York City Marathon is run this Sunday, 1 November 2026, and marks a double anniversary: fifty years since the course first ran through all five boroughs, and fifty years of a professional elite field. Results were not known at the time of writing; this article presents the race and the favourites.
A course, an anniversary
According to finishers.com, the race covers 42.195 km, from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge on Staten Island to Central Park. The five-borough course was adopted in 1976. The race began in 1970 with a few dozen runners looping around Central Park and now has more than 50,000 finishers, according to the site. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Another novelty: the Bronx section changes slightly in 2026, the first change there in fifteen years.
The women's favourites
According to Citius Mag, Sifan Hassan (Netherlands), Olympic champion and national record holder at 2:13:44, returns after withdrawing from April's London Marathon with an Achilles injury; New York is her first race of 2026. Kenya's Hellen Obiri, the defending champion, set a course record of 2:19:51 in 2025, beating a 22-year-old mark. Her personal best is 2:15:53. Among the debutantes is American Weini Kelati, 29, the US half-marathon record holder at 1:06:04, set in March in Barcelona.
The men's favourites
In the men's race, Kenya's Benson Kipruto, the defending champion, won in 2025 by 0.03 seconds. His personal best is 2:02:16 and he is chasing a fifth World Marathon Major title. Citius Mag notes he would be the first man since John Kagwe, in 1998, to defend the title successfully. American Conner Mantz, the US record holder at 2:04:43, missed April's Boston Marathon because of a sacral stress fracture and says his main goal is to reach the start line healthy.
Tributes
According to Citius Mag, Miki Gorman, who won in 1976 and 1977, will be honoured through her daughter, and Bill Rodgers, the 1976 men's winner, is back for race-week festivities.