The New York City Marathon, one of the six World Marathon Majors, is a 26.2adj=onNaNadj=on race that has been held in New York City since 1970. It is the largest marathon in the world; since 2010, every race except one has had over 45,000 finishers, peaking at over 53,000 in 2019.[1] From 1970 through 1975, the race was held entirely in Central Park, but since 1976, the course has started in Staten Island and goes through each of the city's five boroughs.[2] The race was canceled in 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy, which hit New York less than a week before the race had been scheduled to take place.[3] The open division of the race transitioned to a virtual event in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the city,[4] while the wheelchair division was cancelled.
Including the 2020 event, 40 men and 34 women have won the open division of the New York City Marathon, while nine men and ten women have won the wheelchair division. The winners have represented 23 countries. Americans have won the marathon the most, doing so on 35 occasions; Kenyans have won 32 times; and Swiss 16 times.[5] [6] [7]
Gary Muhrcke won the first race with a time of 2:31:38. There were 127 entrants, of whom 55 finished – the only female starter, Nina Kuscsik, withdrew partway due to illness. The following year, Beth Bonner became the first female finisher, winning the race in 2:55:22, a time that is officially credited as the first sub-3-hour marathon by a woman.[8] Grete Waitz, a Norwegian female runner, achieved three official world records at the race between 1978 and 1980.[9] Allison Roe and Alberto Salazar set world record times in the women's and men's races in 1981, but a later investigation found that the course was short. Their times do not stand as official world records,[10] though the New York City Marathon maintains them as course records. Waitz dominated the women's marathon between 1978 and 1988, winning nine of the eleven races during that period: her nine wins are the most of any runner at the New York City Marathon. In the men's race, Bill Rodgers has won the most times, doing so in four consecutive years, from 1976 to 1979. The current open division course records are held by Tamirat Tola, who set a time of 2:04:58 in the 2023 men's race,[7] and Margaret Okayo, who set the women's record at 2:22:31 in 2003.
A wheelchair race has been held since 2000, when 72 people finished:[11] Kamel Ayari won the men's race, and Anh Nguyen Thi Xuan won the women's. Among wheelchair racers, Marcel Hug of Switzerland has the most victories, with six.[7] Three competitors have five victories each: Kurt Fearnley of Australia, Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland, and Tatyana McFadden of the United States. Hug holds the men's course record with a time of 1:25:26 set in 2022, while Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland holds the women's record with 1:39:32 set in 2023.[7]
| Winner | Country | Time | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 2:31:38 | Course record | |||
| 1971 | 2:22:54 | Course record | |||
| 1972 | 2:27:52 | ||||
| 1973 | 2:21:54 | Course record | |||
| 1974 | 2:26:30 | ||||
| 1975 | 2:19:27 | Course record, second victory | |||
| 1976 | 2:10:10 | Course record | |||
| 1977 | 2:11:28 | Second victory | |||
| 1978 | 2:12:12 | Third victory | |||
| 1979 | 2:11:42 | Fourth victory | |||
| 1980 | 2:09:41 | Course record | |||
| 1981 | 2:08:13 | Course record (course measured short), second victory | |||
| 1982 | 2:09:29 | Third victory | |||
| 1983 | 2:08:59 | ||||
| 1984 | 2:14:53 | ||||
| 1985 | 2:11:34 | Second victory | |||
| 1986 | 2:11:06 | ||||
| 1987 | 2:11:01 | ||||
| 1988 | 2:08:20 | ||||
| 1989 | 2:08:01 | Course record | |||
| 1990 | 2:12:39 | ||||
| 1991 | 2:09:28 | ||||
| 1992 | 2:09:29 | ||||
| 1993 | 2:10:04 | ||||
| 1994 | 2:11:21 | ||||
| 1995 | 2:11:00 | Second victory | |||
| 1996 | 2:09:54 | ||||
| 1997 | 2:08:12 | ||||
| 1998 | 2:08:45 | Second victory | |||
| 1999 | 2:09:14 | ||||
| 2000 | 2:10:09 | ||||
| 2001 | 2:07:43 | Course record | |||
| 2002 | 2:08:07 | ||||
| 2003 | 2:10:30 | ||||
| 2:09:28 | |||||
| 2005 | 2:09:30 | ||||
| 2006 | 2:09:58 | ||||
| 2007 | 2:09:04 | Second victory | |||
| 2008 | 2:08:43 | Second victory | |||
| 2009 | 2:09:15 | ||||
| 2010 | 2:08:14 | ||||
| 2011 | 2:05:06 | Course record | |||
| 2012 | colspan=4 | ||||
| 2013 | 2:08:24 | Second victory | |||
| 2014 | 2:10:59 | ||||
| 2015 | 2:10:34 | ||||
| 2016 | 2:07:51 | ||||
| 2017 | 2:10:53 | ||||
| 2018 | 2:05:59 | ||||
| 2019 | 2:08:13 | Second victory | |||
| 2020 | 2:23:48 | ||||
| 2021 | 2:08:22 | [12] | |||
| 2022 | 2:08:41 | ||||
| 2023 | 2:04:58 | Current course record |
| Winner | Country | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | colspan=4 | |||
| 1971 | 2:55:22 | World record | ||
| 1972 | 3:08:41 | |||
| 1973 | 2:57:07 | Second victory | ||
| 1974 | 3:07:29 | |||
| 1975 | 2:46:14 | Course record | ||
| 1976 | 2:39:11 | Course record | ||
| 1977 | 2:43:10 | Second victory | ||
| 1978 | 2:32:30 | World record | ||
| 1979 | 2:27:33 | World record, second victory | ||
| 1980 | 2:25:42 | World record, third victory | ||
| 1981 | 2:25:29 | Course record (course measured short) | ||
| 1982 | 2:27:14 | Fourth victory | ||
| 1983 | 2:27:00 | Fifth victory | ||
| 1984 | 2:29:30 | Sixth victory | ||
| 1985 | 2:28:34 | Seventh victory | ||
| 1986 | 2:28:06 | Eighth victory | ||
| 1987 | 2:30:17 | |||
| 1988 | 2:28:07 | Ninth victory | ||
| 1989 | 2:25:30 | |||
| 1990 | 2:30:45 | |||
| 1991 | 2:27:32 | |||
| 1992 | 2:24:40 | Course record | ||
| 1993 | 2:26:24 | |||
| 1994 | 2:27:37 | |||
| 1995 | 2:28:06 | Second victory | ||
| 1996 | 2:28:18 | |||
| 1997 | 2:28:43 | |||
| 1998 | 2:25:17 | |||
| 1999 | 2:25:06 | |||
| 2000 | 2:25:45 | |||
| 2001 | 2:24:21 | Course record | ||
| 2002 | 2:25:56 | |||
| 2003 | 2:22:31 | Current course record, second victory | ||
| 2004 | 2:23:10 | |||
| 2005 | 2:24:41 | |||
| 2006 | 2:25:05 | Second victory | ||
| 2007 | 2:23:09 | Second victory | ||
| 2008 | 2:23:56 | Third victory | ||
| 2009 | 2:28:52 | |||
| 2010 | 2:28:20 | |||
| 2011 | 2:23:15 | |||
| 2012 | colspan=4 | |||
| 2013 | 2:25:07 | |||
| 2014 | 2:25:07 | |||
| 2015 | 2:24:25 | Second victory | ||
| 2016 | 2:24:26 | Third victory | ||
| 2017 | 2:26:53 | |||
| 2018 | 2:22:48 | Fourth victory | ||
| 2019 | 2:22:38 | |||
| 2020 | 2:35:28 |