2026 New York City Marathon Elite Field: Benson Kipruto

Benson Kipruto beat Alexander Mutiso to the line by 0.03 seconds at last year’s New York City Marathon, the closest men’s finish the race has had, and he comes back on Sunday, Nov. 1, as the defending champion with the fastest personal best in the men’s field. The last man to defend the title was Geoffrey Mutai, who won in 2011 and again in 2013 after the 2012 race was cancelled.

Benson Kipruto at a Glance

Country: Kenya. Born: March 17, 1991 (age 35).

Personal Bests

• Marathon: 2:02:16 (Tokyo, March 3, 2024)
• 25K: 1:13:25 (Kolkata, Dec. 15, 2024)
• Half-marathon: 1:00:06 (Prague, Sept. 5, 2020)
• 10K: 28:39 (Boston, June 25, 2023)

Records and Milestones

• Tokyo Marathon course record: 2:02:16 (March 3, 2024), still standing. Tadese Takele won the 2026 race in 2:03:37.
• Closest finish in New York City Marathon history: beat Alexander Mutiso by 0.03 seconds in 2025, with both men timed in 2:08:09
• Boston Marathon: ran 2:02:50 in 2026, under Geoffrey Mutai’s 2011 course record of 2:03:02. The record went to John Korir the same day in 2:01:52.
• U.S. majors: the only man to have won Boston, Chicago and New York

Major Marathon Podiums

• 1st, Boston 2021 (2:09:51)
• 3rd, Boston 2022 (2:07:27)
• 1st, Chicago 2022 (2:04:24)
• 3rd, Boston 2023 (2:06:06)
• 2nd, Chicago 2023 (2:04:02)
• 1st, Tokyo 2024 (2:02:16)
• 1st, New York City 2025 (2:08:09)
• 3rd, Boston 2026 (2:02:50)

Other Marathon Wins

• Toronto 2018 (2:07:24)
• Prague 2021 (2:10:16)

Championships

• Bronze, Olympic Games marathon, Paris 2024 (2:07:00)

From the Shop Counter to the Marathon

Kipruto went to work in a shop back home once he had finished secondary school, and it was his older brother who drew him toward the marathon. Dickson Chumba won Tokyo in 2014 and Chicago in 2015, and Kipruto moved up to the distance the following year, a decision Track & Field News has traced back to his brother’s Chicago win. He trains in Nandi County, in western Kenya, with a group he has described to World Athletics as being like a family, one that shares its meals as well as its miles.

He was second in Athens in 2016 in 2:13:24, then second again in South Korea a year later in 2:07:21, and he won for the first time at the 2018 Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2:07:24. When he went back to Toronto in 2019 he ran 2:05:13 and finished fourth.

Boston, Chicago and a Tokyo Course Record

His first major title came at the 2021 Boston Marathon, which the pandemic had pushed back to October. American CJ Albertson went out alone and spent about 20 miles in front before the chase pack caught him, and Kipruto then pulled clear to win in 2:09:51. He went back to Boston in the spring of 2022 and 2023 and finished third both times, with Evans Chebet, the man he trains with, taking the title on each occasion.

In Chicago in October 2022, Kipruto broke the race open with a little over 5K to go, getting rid of Bernard Koech first and then John Korir, and won by 25 seconds in a personal best of 2:04:24, seven years after Chumba had won the same race. He ran even faster there a year later, 2:04:02, and finished second to Kelvin Kiptum on the day Kiptum set the world record of 2:00:35.

The fastest race of his career came in Tokyo in March 2024. Kipruto chased down Timothy Kiplagat after Kiplagat’s breakaway, made his own decisive move with a little over 4K left, and crossed the line 39 seconds clear in 2:02:16. That took 24 seconds off the course record Eliud Kipchoge had set two years earlier, and Kipchoge, whom Kipruto has named as an inspiration, finished 10th.

Five months later he won bronze at the Paris Olympics. Tamirat Tola pulled away around 30K, and Kipruto ran in the chase group with Bashir Abdi and Deresa Geleta until the closing kilometers before holding on for third in 2:07:00 behind Tola’s Olympic record of 2:06:26 and Abdi’s 2:06:47.

A Photo Finish in New York and a Fast Day in Boston

Kipruto was seventh in Tokyo in the spring of 2025, in 2:05:46, and then made his New York debut that November. The leaders went through halfway in 1:05:18, the pack was down to four by mile 23, and over the last two miles it was Kipruto and Alexander Mutiso on their own. Mutiso came at him on the left with about 20 meters to go, LetsRun reported, and both men were given 2:08:09 before the photo showed Kipruto ahead by 0.03 seconds. Albert Korir crossed third but was later banned after testing positive for CERA, and his result was disqualified, which moved Britain’s Patrick Dever up to the podium.

The win completed a set of all three American majors, and Kipruto had some fun with it afterwards. “This is my third win in America and I’m so happy,” he said, Capital FM reported, before suggesting the feat deserved a decoration of its own: “I think I need now a three-star from the American major marathon.”

He opened 2026 back in Boston on April 20 and ran 2:02:50, inside the 2:03:02 course record Mutai had held since 2011. John Korir won in 2:01:52, and Tanzania’s Alphonce Simbu got past Kipruto on the final straight to take second in 2:02:47, so all three men on the podium finished under Mutai’s old time. He also raced the Bogotá Half Marathon in July and finished eighth.

What to Expect in New York

Kipruto’s 2:02:16 is the quickest best in the men’s field. Deresa Geleta, fifth behind him in Paris, is next at 2:02:38, and CyBrian Kotut has run 2:03:22, with both making their New York debuts. Two former champions are back too, Abdi Nageeye from 2024 and Geoffrey Kamworor from 2017 and 2019, and Conner Mantz and Zouhair Talbi, the two fastest Americans ever, will be on the same start line. Andreas Almgren, the world half-marathon champion, runs his first marathon.

Tola’s course record from 2023 is 2:04:58, nearly three minutes slower than Kipruto’s best, and last year’s race was won in 2:08:09, so a fast personal best counts for less in New York than at almost any other major. That works in Kipruto’s favor, because his wins in Chicago and Tokyo were both settled by moves he made after 37K, his Boston title and his Olympic medal came in races without pacemakers, and he has already beaten Mutiso in a sprint down the final straight in Central Park.

Victory on Sunday would bring his World Marathon Major count to five and make him the first man to win New York in consecutive editions since Mutai. The professional men start at 9:05 a.m. ET, and our guide to how to watch the race has every broadcast and stream. “My first experience at the TCS New York City Marathon was unforgettable, and I am thrilled to return,” Kipruto said when New York Road Runners announced the field in August.