NEW YORK (AP) — Andreas Almgren came to watch the New York City Marathon a year ago and decided that night he was going to make his debut in the event this year.
It turned out to be a great choice: The Swedish half-marathon star won his debut in the 26.2-mile distance Sunday, running the third-fastest time in race history. He finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 1 second. That was 13 seconds faster than the second-place finisher Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy, who also was making his New York City debut.
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“Started talking about plans, my long-term plans, in my mind I thought it was a good plan,” Almgren said. “Here we are a year later and I won this race.”
Almgren said he went to a three spots to watch the race last year, taking in the scene in Brooklyn around Mile 8, then seeing the crowd as the runners entered Manhattan when they got off the bridge. Finally, he went to Central Park to catch the last couple of miles of the race.
A year later, he was running in those same spots, spurred on by the huge crowd that was cheering on him and the other 60,000 runners. It wasn't until the final miles in Central Park when he knew he could win.
“It's was kind of like where I knew I had a shot at winning this,” said Almgren, who became the first Swedish runner to win the event.
Almgren said he didn't know how he was supposed to feel during the race because it his first marathon, but he said he felt well with about 6 miles left.
Before becoming a full-time runner, Almgren worked as a risk analyst at a financial company and then as a data scientist for a sports tech software company. A stress fracture derailed his 2024 Paris Olympic hopes and then he decided to quit his job and focus on running full-time, acting as his own coach.
Almgren had a record-setting 2025, winning the Valencia Half Marathon in 58:41. He became the first non-African-born runner to break the 59-minute mark.
The race conditions in New York were perfect on Sunday, with temperatures in the mid 50s Fahrenheit for the race. Almgren led six runners under 2:07.
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