The week in world running, straight from the paddock (to Fri 6 Nov 2026)

1. ALMGREN WINS NEW YORK ON HIS FIRST GO

Former 800m man gallops clear in Central Park, Chepkirui nicks the women’s title, McClain steals second

We flagged him in Issue #4 as the one to watch, and Andreas Almgren duly delivered. The Swede, world half marathon champion and European 10,000m gold medallist, won the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday in 2:06:01 on his debut at the distance. He eased away from Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa in the last mile to win by 13 seconds, the first European-born man to take New York since Giacomo Leone in 1996.

Lesotho’s Kamohelo Mofolo, turning 21 on race day, came through late for third in a PB of 2:06:26, pipping defending champion Benson Kipruto on the line by a second. Zouhair Talbi was the top American in sixth (2:06:43), with Conner Mantz 11th in 2:07:27 and Britain’s Patrick Dever the leading Brit in 17th (2:09:53).

In the women’s race Sheila Chepkirui regained the title she won in 2024, sprinting clear of Hellen Obiri in the final 150m to win in 2:24:36. The real shout from the stands was Jessica McClain, who snatched second in 2:24:42, one second ahead of Obiri, the first US woman on a New York podium since Shalane Flanagan in 2018. Edna Kiplagat was fourth in 2:25:42. Marcel Hug took an eighth men’s wheelchair title in 1:28:14 and Catherine Debrunner won the women’s in 1:40:02. A few of ours were out there too (see Hoofprints).

Sources: World Athletics report · World Athletics results · BBC Sport · Athletics Weekly · Runner’s World

2. RIP CIARA

European 1500m champion Ciara Mageean dies at 34

A proper loss. Ireland’s Ciara Mageean died on Sunday morning, aged 34, after being diagnosed with cancer in 2025. She was a two-time Olympian and won European 1500m gold in Rome in 2024, only the second Irish athlete after Sonia O’Sullivan to take an individual European title. She’d also won European silver in 2022, bronze in 2016, indoor bronze in 2019 and Commonwealth silver in Birmingham.

She finished fourth at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, ran Rio and Tokyo, and held the Irish records at 800m, 1000m, 1500m and the mile. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe called it a sad day for the sport, and Athletics Ireland said her courage, warmth and spirit will leave a lasting legacy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

Sources: World Athletics · RTÉ · The Irish Times

3. BIGGEST FIELD IN MARATHON HISTORY

61,146 finishers in New York, three years running as the largest race on the planet

While the elites were sorting themselves out up front, the mass field was rewriting the record books. New York Road Runners say 61,146 runners finished on Sunday, with 61,529 starters, past London’s 59,830 and last year’s NYC mark of 59,226. That’s three years in a row as the largest marathon ever, on the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course.

Runners came from 153 countries, the race topped its $100m charity goal, and the finishers stretched from 18-year-old Lucy Weld to 90-year-old Danil Farkash. World Athletics also used the week to launch a standalone Running & Mass Participation department, headed by Jakob Larsen, to put more focus on the billion-odd people who run in some shape or form. The sport’s getting bigger whether the stopwatch likes it or not.

Sources: Runner’s World · World Athletics

4. KIPCHUMBA SMASHES THE ISTANBUL MARK

Course record on the only intercontinental marathon, Ethiopians sweep the women’s podium

Same day, different bridge. Kenya’s Philimon Kiptoo Kipchumba won the 48th Istanbul Marathon in 2:08:45, a minute inside Daniel Kibet’s 2019 course record of 2:09:44. Ethiopia’s Sufaro Woliyi was second in 2:08:55 and Kenya’s Vincent Ronoh third in 2:08:58, with the top seven all under 2:10.

Ethiopia filled the women’s podium. Kasanesh Baze won in 2:24:41, Azmera Abreha took second in 2:24:48 and Diribe Hirko third in 2:25:01. The race still starts on the Asian side and finishes in Sultanahmet Square, the only marathon that hops continents mid-race. Quietly impressive day while New York took the headlines.

Sources: World Athletics results · Anadolu Agency

5. LONDON FLIRTS WITH MIXED RACING AGAIN

Brasher open to male pacemakers in the elite women’s race for 2027

Hugh Brasher has put male pacemakers back on the table for London. The Marathon CEO told The Independent the organisers are prepared to “mix it up” in 2027 and are talking to athletes about what they want, with elite fields due in January. It would be the first time London’s elite women have had male pacers in 20 years. Deena Kastor was the last to win that way, in 2:19:36 back in 2006.

London’s stuck with women-only racing for two decades, and Tigst Assefa set women-only world records of 2:15:50 and 2:15:41 in the last two editions. Brasher’s interest is partly about putting Ruth Chepngetich’s disputed 2:09:56 world record under proper pressure, after Assefa got close in Berlin before injury. Nothing’s decided yet, so don’t rewrite your spring plans. Just know the paddock rules might shift.

Sources: Athletics Weekly · The Independent

6. EIGHT YEARS FOR SIYOUM AFTER EPO AND FORGERY

AIU bans Ethiopian 1500m runner, plus two more for methylprednisolone

Another grim one from the Athletics Integrity Unit. Ethiopian 1500m runner Mosisa Siyoum has been banned for eight years from 5 May 2026 for EPO and tampering. Canadian Running reports he tested positive from samples around the ORLEN Copernicus Cup in Toruń in February, then submitted medical paperwork the AIU say didn’t check out. Results wiped back to 13 December 2025.

The same round of decisions included four-month bans for Ethiopian distance runners Sofiya Shemsu Chegen and Gelaye Atinkut for methylprednisolone, and a five-year ban for Uzbek shot putter Doston Rajabov. Coming a week after Peres Jepchirchir’s provisional EPO suspension (covered in Issue #4), it’s been a rough stretch for anyone who wants the sport clean.

Sources: Canadian Running · Athletics Integrity Unit