America’s Golden Boy, Conner Mantz, Headlines Elite Field For 2025 NYC Half

The United Airlines NYC Half Marathon is around the corner, and it’s set to be another thrilling event to add to the already crazy 2025 running season.

This year’s edition, happening on March 16, is stacked with a strong American field and a few top-level international runners, all ready to battle it out on this challenging course, which begins in Brooklyn and ends in Central Park.

Besides bragging rights, there’s also a $20,000 first-place prize up for grabs.

And for the first time ever, runners will charge across the Brooklyn Bridge, adding a new scenic—and probably leg-burning—element to the already hilly course.

The Headliners

Leading the pack is defending men’s champion Abel Kipchumba of Kenya, whose personal best of 58:07 makes him one of the fastest half-marathoners in history. He’s back to defend his title, but he’s got company.

Enter Conner Mantz, the new American record holder in the half marathon (59:17, in case you were wondering). Mantz has been on a tear, winning the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and placing eighth at the Paris Olympics. The guy is fit and fired up. He’ll be using the NYC Half as prep race for the Boston Marathon in April.

But the American men aren’t stopping there.

Two-time Olympian Hillary Bor, track star-turned-half-marathoner Woody Kincaid, and Canadian Olympian Moh Ahmed are all looking to shake things up.

Ahmed is making his half-marathon debut, stepping up from the track, where he’s been collecting medals like souvenirs. He was initially set to race his first half marathon back in January in Houston, but scratched at the last minute due to injury. Will his speed translate to the roads? We’re about to find out.

On the women’s side, Noway’s Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal is back to defend her NYC Half title after a strong 2024 that included a European Championship win and an eighth-place finish in the 5,000m at the Paris Olympics.

But if she wants to win again, she’ll have to take down a stacked American squad led by Emily Sisson, the U.S. marathon record holder (2:18:29), and Olympic teammate Fiona O’Keeffe (in her first race back from a tumultuous Olympic campaign), Dakotah Popehn (formerly Lindwurm), and veteran runner Des Linden.

Oh, and let’s not forget Sharon Lokedi, the 2022 NYC Marathon champion and fourth-place finisher at the Paris Olympic Marathon. She’s proven she knows how to win in New York, which could give her the edge.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Calli Hauger-Thackery and Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter—both sub-67-minute half-marathoners—are more than capable of crashing the American party.

Brooklyn Bridge Added To The Course

Here’s something new—thanks to construction on South Street, runners will now cross the Brooklyn Bridge instead of the Manhattan Bridge.

This marks the first time any NYRR race has used the iconic bridge, which sounds amazing… until you remember that it also means an incline early in the race. So yeah, expect some heavy breathing as runners make their way into Manhattan.

After the bridge, the course stays true to its roots: a stretch along the FDR, a magical run through Times Square (one of only two times a year it’s closed to traffic; the other being New Year’s Eve), and a finish in Central Park.

Check out The Full Elite Fields Below

Men’s Elite Field

Women’s Elite Field