Almgren wins New York in his first marathon, in Nike Apex

First marathon, first win. And not just anywhere.

On Sunday, November 1, 2026, Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the New York City Marathon in 2:06:01. In the women’s race, Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui took her second title in three years, in 2:24:36.

On Almgren’s feet: the Nike Apex. A shoe you can’t buy before January 2027.

The race in brief

Men

• Cautious start: 1:04:01 at halfway.
• At 35 km, ten men still went through within one second. Almgren was 5th.
• At 40 km he led, one second ahead of Benson Kipruto and Yemaneberhan Crippa.
• In Central Park he kicked again and won by 13 seconds.

On 59th Street he looked back, saw two metres between Crippa and himself, and “put it into another gear,” he told Canadian Running.

Women

• At 35 km, six runners were still together.
• Chepkirui then ran the fastest 5 km of the race, 16:24. Only Hellen Obiri went with her.
• Chepkirui broke clear over the last two kilometres.
• Jess McClain caught Obiri in the final 200 metres: the first American woman on the podium since Shalane Flanagan in 2018.

A champion’s first marathon

Almgren, 31, comes from the track. This season: European 10,000 m champion, then world half marathon champion in 58:06, a European record.

In his debut he missed the Swedish record (2:05:57) by four seconds. It is also the fastest winning time in New York since 2023.

Zoom on Almgren’s Nike Apex

Footwear News and Marathon Handbook both report it: Almgren won in the Nike Apex. He made no secret of it: a few days before the race he showed the pair, saying he had used it on his hardest long runs and that it gave him a lot of confidence. It is the Apex’s first win at a major marathon.

Nike unveiled the Apex on September 30, 2026 and puts it at the very top of its road racing range, above the Alphafly 4. What Nike says:

Feature	Nike Apex, according to Nike
Foam	ZoomX LT, lighter and softer than ZoomX
Air Zoom	four forefoot units, stacked in pairs
Plate	carbon fibre Flyplate, redesigned
Stack height	40 mm at the heel and the forefoot
Drop	0 mm
Upper	Flyknit X, no sock liner
Weight	more than 10% lighter than the Alphafly 3 (men’s US 10)
Energy return	up to 40% more than the Alphafly 3 (men’s US 10)
Availability	January 2027, on nike.com and at select retailers
Price	$350 according to several sneaker sites, not confirmed by Nike

Apex or Alphafly?

The Alphafly 3 has an 8 mm drop, and so does the Alphafly 4. The Apex is flat: 40 mm under the heel and under the toes, the maximum World Athletics allows on the road. Marathon Handbook reports Nike’s weight, 176 g in a men’s US 8.5, against 188 g for the Alphafly 4 in the same size. The 40% energy return is Nike’s own measurement, not an independent test. And a race isn’t a lab: in New York, the legs of a world half marathon champion did most of the work.

If you want the closest tech today, the Alphafly 4 already pairs ZoomX LT foam with Air Zoom units. Our guide to carbon-plated shoes explains what to expect at your pace.

The podium and its shoes

We only publish a model when at least two sources confirm it. Otherwise we give the brand, and we’ll update the post when more sources come out.

Place	Men	Time	Shoes
1	Andreas Almgren (Sweden)	2:06:01	Nike Apex
2	Yemaneberhan Crippa (Italy)	2:06:14	On athlete, model not confirmed
3	Kamohelo Mofolo (Lesotho)	2:06:26	not identified

Place	Women	Time	Shoes
1	Sheila Chepkirui (Kenya)	2:24:36	adidas, model not confirmed
2	Jess McClain (USA)	2:24:42	Brooks athlete, model not confirmed
3	Hellen Obiri (Kenya)	2:24:43	On athlete, model not confirmed

Times still unofficial on November 2, 2026. For Chepkirui, Footwear News writes “Adizero Adios Pro 3” in the text and “Adios Pro Evo 3” under the photo, with the weight of the Adios Pro Evo 3. Until a second source settles it, we stick to the brand.

The winning shoes of New York 2026

Two brands won New York this year: Nike in the men’s race, with a shoe not yet on sale, and adidas in the women’s, closing a season in which the Adios Pro Evo 3 won most of the big marathons. What you can already compare here:

• Nike Alphafly 4: the closest to the Apex, on sale today.
• adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3: adidas’s shoe of the season.
• On Cloudboom Strike 2 and Brooks Hyperion Elite 6: the marathon racers of Crippa’s, Obiri’s and McClain’s brands.
• The whole aisle: marathon shoes, racing shoes, and the comparison tool to put two pairs side by side.

The Apex has no product page here yet, with no price or exact date. Sign up for the newsletter (next to the article, or below it on mobile): we’ll tell you as soon as it reaches retailers.

Sources

• Results, splits and race report: Marathon Handbook, men and women, FloTrack, World-Track, November 1, 2026.
• Almgren’s quotes and record: Canadian Running, CBS New York.
• Podium shoes: Footwear News (WWD), Marathon Handbook; before the race: Morgonbladet.
• Nike Apex: Nike press release, September 30, 2026; weight: Marathon Handbook; price: Sole Retriever.