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Obiri and Wildschutt triumph on chilly morning at United Airlines NYC Half Marathon

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By Clay Shaw
Photos by Clay Shaw and Karen Mitchell

3.15.26 New York, NY—Hellen Obiri of Kenya set a new race record of 1:06:33 with a 37-second lead over the stacked professional field. Tallahassee World XC champion Agnes Ngetich of Kenya led through the early part of the race, setting a torrid pace on a scenic course that started in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Sharon Lokedi of Kenya, long-time rival of Obiri, stayed with her the longest and finished second in 1:07:10. Megan Keith of Great Britain, running her first half marathon, took a cautious approach and reeled in much of the faster starters, closing strong to finish third in 1:07:13. Diane Van Es of Netherlands won a spirited duel with Fentaye Belayeh of Ethiopia to finish fourth in 1:08:21. Belayneh was fifth in 1:08:22, a second back.

Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa won the 19th running of the United Airlines NYC Half in 59:30. Zouhair Talbi of Colorado Springs was second in 59:41. Gulveer Singh of India, running his debut half marathon, was third in 59:42, setting a national record. Alex Maier of Chapel Hill, NC was fourth in 59:51. Peter Lynch of Ireland was fifth in 59:52, becoming the first Irish man to run under one hour for the half marathon distance.

Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain was the women’s pro wheelchair champion in 54:27. Tatyana McFadden of Clarksville, MD was second in 1:00:21. Shauna Bocquet of Ireland was third in 1:02:59.

Daniel Romanchuk of Champaign, IL won the men’s wheelchair race in 48:10. Evan Correll also of Champaign, IL was second in 50:22. Geert Schipper of Netherlands was third in 50:24.

A new record of 30,229 finished the largest half-marathon in the United States.

Oddly, we had to pay a subway fare to cross under the course on W. 42nd street to return to our hotel a few hours after we were done photographing the elite races. This was even after a chance meeting with Romanian friends at a Starbucks.

We did later see my hometown Golden State Warriors play the Knicks, but lost 110-107. At 19, I was the Warriors team photographer, a pretty cool start to my life in sports photography.

Top Women

  1. 1:06:33 Hellen Obiri, 36, Kenya
  2. 1:07:10 Sharon Lokedi, 32, Kenya
  3. 1:07:13 Megan Keith, 23, Great Britain
  4. 1:08:21 Diane Van Es, 26, Netherlands
  5. 1:08:22 Fentaye Belayneh, 25, Ethiopia
  6. 1:09:06 Emily Sisson, 34, Providence, RI
  7. 1:09:22 Amanda Vestri, 26, St Augustine, FL
  8. 1:09:25 Annie Frisbie, 29, Edina, MN
  9. 1:09:38 Susanna Sullivan, 35, Reston, VA
  10. 1:09:46 Emily Venters, 26, Salt Lake City, UT
  11. 1:10:04 Konstanze Klosterhalfen, 29, Germany
  12. 1:10:06 Dakotah Popehn, 30, Hopkins, MN
  13. 1:10:25 Agnes Ngetich, 25, Kenya
  14. 1:11:12 Lauren Gregory, 26, Fort Collins, CO
  15. 1:11:21 Elena Hayday, 26, Minneapolis, MN
  16. 1:11:59 Felicia Pasadyn, 23, New York, NY
  17. 1:13:16 Calli Hauger-Thackery, 33, Great Britain
  18. 1:13:23 Stephanie Bruce, 42, Flagstaff, AZ
  19. 1:14:02 Lindsay Flanagan, 35, Superior, CO
  20. 1:14:26 Grace Heymsfield, 33, Brooklyn, NY
  21. 1:14:55 Emily Durgin, 31, Boulder, CO
  22. 1:15:26 Julia Pieskaczynska, 27, Poland
  23. 1:15:28 Erika Priego, 27, Mexico
  24. 1:16:28 Anastasia Dmitrienko, 26, New York, NY
  25. 1:16:34 Melissa Reed, 29, New York, NY

Top Men

  1. 59:30 Adriaan Wildschutt, 27, South Africa
  2. 59:41 Zouhair Talbi, 30, Colorado Springs, CO
  3. 59:42 Gulveer Singh, 27, India
  4. 59:51 Alex Maier, 25, Chapel Hill, NC
  5. 59:52 Peter Lynch, 28, Ireland
  6. 59:56 Patrick Dever, 29, Great Britain
  7. 1:00:00 Rory Linkletter, 29, Canada
  8. 1:00:01 Patrick Kiprop, 25, Kenya
  9. 1:00:02 Joe Klecker, 29, Boulder, CO
  10. 1:00:13 Shunsuke Kuwata, 20, Japan
  11. 1:00:17 Jack Rowe, 30, Great Britain
  12. 1:00:22 Ryan Ford, 28, Boulder, CO
  13. 1:00:50 Daniel Ebenyo, 30, Kenya
  14. 1:00:53 Grant Fisher, 28, Park City, UT
  15. 1:02:06 Camren Todd, 27, Durango, CO
  16. 1:02:09 Alex Masai, 28, Kenya
  17. 1:02:14 Tsegay Weldlibanos, 31, Eritrea
  18. 1:02:14 Joel Reichow, 32, St Paul, MN
  19. 1:02:39 Kieran Tuntivate, 29, Thailand
  20. 1:02:41 Sondre Nordstad Moen, 35, Norway
  21. 1:02:43 Turner Wiley, 32, Issaquah, WA
  22. 1:02:55 Rui Aoki, 21, Japan
  23. 1:03:22 Max Turek, 28, Canada
  24. 1:03:48 Jacob Thomson, 31, Flagstaff, AZ
  25. 1:04:28 Galen Rupp, 39, Portland, OR
United Airlines NYC Half Marathon champions: Hellen Obiri and Adriaan Wildschutt.
Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa wins the United Airlines NYC Half in 59:30.
Hellen Obiri of Kenya set a new race record of 1:06:33 on route to a 37-second victory. Obiri also won in 2023.
Sharon Lokedi of Kenya was second in 1:07:10. She was the 2025 NYC Half champion.
Zouhair Talbi of Colorado Springs was second in 59:41.
Men’s Podium: Zouhair Talbi USA (2nd), Adriaan Wildschutt of South Africa (1st) , and Gulveer Singh of India (3rd).
Megan Keith of Great Britain ran a spectacular debut at the half-marathon distance, finishing third in 1:07:13.
Gulveer Singh of India was third in 59:42, a new national record.
Another competitive sprint for fourth, as Alex Maier of Chapel Hill, NC finishes fourth in 59:51 and was top USA. Peter Lynch of Ireland finished fifth in 59:52 and became the first Irish runner ever under one hour.
Diane Van Es of Netherlands in sprint with Fentaye Belayneh of Ethiopia. Van Es was fourth in 1:08:21; Belayneh was fifth in 1:08:22.
Emily Sisson of Providence, RI was sixth and top USA runner in 1:09:06.
Amanda Vestri of St. Augustine, FL was seventh in 1:09:22.
Susanna Sullivan of Reston, VA was ninth in 1:09:38.
Emily Venters of Salt Lake City, UT was tenth in 1:09:46.
Shunsuke Kuwata of Japan was tenth in 1:00:13.
Konstanze Klosterhalfen of Germany was eleventh in 1:10:04.
Jack Rowe of Great Britain was eleventh in 1:00:17.
Dakotah Popehn of St. Paul, MN was twelfth in 1:10:06.
Agnes Ngetich of Kenya took the pace out hard and faded to thirteenth, suffering from hypothermia afterwards.
Grant Fisher of Park City, UT ran 1:00:53 in his first ever half-marathon. Fisher was 14th in the very competitive field.
Lauren Gregory of Fort Collins, CO was fourteenth in 1:11:12.
Camren Todd of Durango, CO chases Alex Masai of Kenya. Todd caught him and was 15th in 1:02:06. Masai was 16th in 1:02:09.
Calli Hauger-Thackery of Great Britain racing strong 17 weeks pregnant, was 17th in 1:13:16.
Nick Hauger with wife Calli Hauger-Thackery of Great Britain are all smiles after the United Airlines NYC Half.
Tsegay Weldlibanos of Eritrea and Joel Reichow of St. Paul, MN finished in 1:02:14. Tsegay was 17th; Joel was 18th.
Lindsay Flanagan of Superior, CO was 19th in 1:14:02.
Kieran Tuntivate of Thailand was 19th in 1:02:29, just ahead of Sondre Nordstad Moen of Norway, who was 20th in 1:02:41.
Spencer Wiley of Issaquah, WA was 21st in 1:02:43.
Julia Pieskaczynska of Poland, who started with the men was scored in 22nd place in 1:15:26.
Rui Aoki of Japan was 22nd in 1:02:55. The men’s elite field was stacked!
Erika Priego of Mexico was 23rd in 1:15:38.
Max Turek of Canada was 23rd in 1:03:22.
Anastasia Dmitrienko of New York was 24th in 1:16:28.
Emily Durgin of Boulder and Sondre Nordstad Moen of Norway hit the finish at same time (Emily started earlier). Durgin ran 1:14:55; Moen ran 1:02:41.
Haftu Knight of Rochester Hills, MI was 26th in 1:04:52.
Daniel Romanchuk of Champaign, IL was the pro wheelchair champion in 48:10. It was Daniel’s third victory at the NYC Half.
Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain was the women’s pro wheelchair champion in 54:27.
Women’s Wheelchair podium. Tatyana McFadden USA, Eden Rainbow-Cooper GBR, and Shauna Bocquet of Ireland.
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