Abdi Nageeye wins NYC marathon, Sheila Chepkirui takes women's division

Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The Somali-Dutch runner Abdi Nageeye won the 2024 New York City Marathon on Sunday as Kenyan runner Sheila Chepkirui defeated reigning women's champion Hellen Obiri for the women's division.

Nageeye, 35, was able to edge out second-place finisher Evans Chebet step by step as the pair approached the finish line and finished the race with a time of 2:07:39. Chebet previously won the 2022 New York City Marathon, when Nageeye placed third.

Chepkirui finished the race with an official time of 2:24:35, nearly 15 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Obiri, also of Kenya.

Three American men placed in the Top 10 of the race: Connor Mantz, Clayton Young, and CJ Albertson. The top American woman finisher was Sara Vaughn, who was followed by Jessica McClain and Kellyn Taylor.

In the wheelchair events, this year marked the first time that athletes from the United States swept both women's and men's events. Daniel Romanchuk won the men's division with a time of 1:36:31 while Susannah Scaroni won the women's division with a time of 1:48:05.

The 26.2-mile race began with more than 50,000 runners crossing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, which links the borough of Staten Island to Brooklyn's Fort Hamilton neighborhood.

Runners then passed through the scenic Sunset Park and Park Slope neighborhoods before crossing the Pulaski bridge from Williamsburg into Queens.

Runners continued through the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens until crossing the Queensboro Bridge over Roosevelt Island to Manhattan.

The race followed First Avenue north on the Upper East Side, through East Harlem and over yet another bridge into the Bronx before passing back into Manhattan via the Madison Avenue Bridge.

Runners then darted down Fifth Avenue along the eastern boundary of Central Park before turning into the park and reaching the finish line.

In 2023, 51,453 runners from 148 countries finished the race with an average time of 4:39:47.