New York Road Runners Announces Stacked Professional Athlete Field for the 2026 United Airlines NYC Half Featuring All Four Defending Champions

Defending champions Abel Kipchumba, Sharon Lokedi, Geert Schipper, and Manuela Schär to headline men’s and women’s open and wheelchair divisions

Field also includes Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championships medalists Daniel Ebenyo, Konstanze Klosterhalfen, Tatyana McFadden, Agnes Ngetich, Hellen Obiri, Julia Paternain, Daniel Romanchuk, and Galen Rupp

Grant Fisher, Lindsay Flanagan, Annie Frisbie, Ryan Ford, Joe Klecker, Alex Maier, Dakotah Popehn, Joel Reichow, Natosha Rogers, Emily Sisson, Susanna Sullivan, and Zouhair Talbi lead Americans

New York, February 18, 2026 – New York Road Runners (NYRR), the nonprofit that “runs” New York City producing 60 annual adult and youth races including the TCS New York City Marathon and providing free year-round youth and community programs, has announced the full professional athlete field for the United Airlines NYC Half, Sunday, March 15. The star-studded lineup includes all four defending champions, 30 Olympians and Paralympians, 19 national record holders, and 11 global medalists.

As the world’s premier half marathon and the largest in the U.S. with a record-breaking 28,709 finishers in 2025, the United Airlines NYC Half takes runners on a 13.1-mile park-to-park tour of New York City, starting in Prospect Park in Brooklyn and ending in Central Park. For the second year in a row, the course will take athletes across the Brooklyn Bridge—the only race in history to do so—before passing Grand Central Terminal and running through Times Square—one of two times the Crossroads of the World is closed to traffic.

The four defending champions in the men’s and women’s open and wheelchair divisions—Abel Kipchumba and Sharon Lokedi of Kenya, Geert Schipper of the Netherlands, and Manuela Schär of Switzerland—will return and look to retain possession of their titles.

Battling Kipchumba will be the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships bronze medalist Daniel Ebenyo, previously announced two-time Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher, and a slew of national record holders including Canada's Rory Linkletter. In addition to Fisher, the Americans will be led by four of the fastest half marathoners and marathoners in American history: Ryan Ford, Alex Maier, Galen Rupp, and Zouhair Talbi, along with U.S. Olympian Joe Klecker.

Lokedi will take on defending TCS New York City Marathon champion Hellen Obiri in a powerhouse field that also features the 2026 World Cross Country Championships gold medalist and world 10K record holder Agnes Ngetich, Fantaye Belayneh, the second fastest half marathoner this year, 2025 World Athletics Championships marathon bronze medalist Julia Paternain, and top Americans Lindsay Flanagan, Annie Frisbie, Dakotah Popehn, Natosha Rogers, and Emily Sisson.

The wheelchair division will feature Paralympians and former United Airlines NYC Half podium finishers Tatyana McFadden, Eden Rainbow-Cooper, and Daniel Romanchuk.

In addition to the nearly 29,000 half marathoners, 1,500 kids ages 2 to 18 will run shoulder-to-shoulder with the professional athletes in free races and dashes at the Times Square Kids Run. The Times Square Kids Run is one of more than 20 free Rising New York Road Runners youth events the nonprofit hosts throughout the year, including the TCS New York City Marathon Kids Kickoff, its marquee event featuring 2,500 youth from across the five boroughs.

Men's Open Division

Coming into last year’s race with a target on his back, Kipchumba rose to the occasion and won his second consecutive United Airlines NYC Half title in a new event record time of 59:09. As the 10th fastest half marathoner of all time, he will look to become the first three-time men’s open division champion in race history.

“Winning in New York is never easy, and coming back to defend my title again is a challenge I’m excited for,” said Kipchumba. “The energy on the streets pushes you from the first mile to the last, and I’m motivated to chase history against a world-class field.“

Kipchumba will be joined by compatriot Ebenyo, a three-time World Championships medalist with two silvers in the 10,000 meters and half marathon and a recent bronze medal at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in January. This will mark Ebenyo’s New York Road Runners racing debut.

The internationally diverse field will also feature a deep roster of Olympians and national record holders, like Great Britain’s Patrick Dever, now the fourth fastest half marathoner in British history and Canada’s Linkletter, who shattered his own national half marathon record in January, becoming the first Canadian to run under 60 minutes. Additional talent includes Kenya’s Alex Masai, the third place finisher at the 2025 Chicago Marathon and Norway’s Sondre Nordstad Moen, who owns national records in the 10,000 meters, half marathon, and marathon.

India’s Gulveer Singh and Thailand’s Kieran Tuntivate add even more depth as the gold and silver medalists in the 5,000 meters at the 2025 Asian Championships. Singh is the national record holder in the 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 meters, while Tuntivate holds Thailand’s national record in every event from 1,500 to the half marathon.

Rounding out the international roster are South Africa’s Adriaan Wildschutt, the 10th place finisher in the 10,000 meters at the Paris 2024 Olympics and the national record holder in the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and half marathon, and Morocco’s Mohammed El Youssfi, who set the national half marathon record earlier this year.

Amid a standout moment for American men’s distance running, both veterans and rising talents will toe the line. Two-time Olympic medalist and five-time national champion Rupp returns to New York looking to replicate his 2011 NYC Half success when he finished third. Rupp has also been on the broadcast talent team for the 2024 and 2025 TCS New York City Marathon providing expert insight and commentary.

Racing with him are emerging stars Ford, Maier, Talbi, and Joel Reichow, all aiming to build on last year’s American success at the United Airlines NYC Half, which saw Conner Mantz and Hillary Bor land on the podium. Maier and Ford continued their rapid ascent in January, becoming the second and sixth fastest half marathoners in American history, running 59:23 and 59:48, respectively. Reichow stunned the field in November when he finished as the top American and sixth overall at the TCS New York City Marathon. A teammate of fellow United Airlines NYC Half competitors Frisbie and Popehn, Reichow will hope to finish as the top American again. Talbi returns to New York with strong momentum, having run the third fastest marathon in American history on a record eligible course in January. He has finished on the podium in both of his United Airlines NYC Half appearances—third in 2023 and second in 2024. Klecker, an Olympian in the 10,000 meters, will make his United Airlines NYC Half debut, after his 26.2-mile debut at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon, where he placed 10th. The American contingent joins Fisher, the world record holder in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meters, who is making his half marathon and professional road racing debut.

Lastly, the professional field will feature several local New York City residents and New York Road Runners award winners, including Matthew Leach and Owen Ritz. Leach, a Brooklyn resident who runs with Brooklyn Track Club, made his TCS New York City Marathon debut in November and finished as the top New York City resident. He recently won the Fred Lebow Runner of the Year award at NYRR Club Night, awarded to the top man, woman, and nonbinary athletes who consistently exhibit superior performance over a variety of races and distances in the New York Road Runners racing season. Ritz, a New York Athletic Club member from Manhattan, has run 11 races with New York Road Runners and most notably finished as the second New York City resident at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. He ran collegiately at Dartmouth University and won his age group (25-29) award at the 2025 NYRR Club Night Awards.

Women's Open Division

Building upon her career success in New York, including a surprise debut win in the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon, Lokedi won her first United Airlines NYC Half in commanding fashion last year, running an event record of 1:07:04. This will be her first race since finishing as runner-up at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon.

“New York has been so special to my career, and returning as the defending champion means a lot to me,” said Lokedi. “Running through Times Square and seeing all the young runners is one of the highlights for me and I can’t wait to draw inspiration from them again this year.“

Lokedi will face off against the 2023 and 2025 TCS New York City Marathon champion Obiri for the eighth time in their careers. Notably, they will be joined by Ngetich, who won the 2026 World Athletics Cross Country Championships in dominant fashion, winning by the second largest margin in history. The world record holder at 10K, Ngetich is also the second fastest half marathoner in history, and this will be her New York Road Runners racing debut.

Additional international star power includes Ethiopia’s Belayneh, whose 1:04:49 from January’s Houston Half is the second fastest half marathon time in the world this year and four-time Olympic medalist and German standout Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who holds national records at 1,500 meters, one mile, 2,000 meters, 3,000 meters, 5,000 meters, and 10,000 meters.

After her breakthrough performance at the 2025 World Athletics Championships marathon, where she earned a bronze medal and the first global running championship medal in her nation’s history, Uruguay’s Paternain will make her New York Road Runners racing debut. British Olympian Calli Hauger-Thackery, who finished third at the 2025 United Airlines NYC Half, will try to better that position as she comes off back-to-back marathon victories in Houston and Honolulu over the last two months.

Also racing from Prospect Park to Central Park will be the Netherlands’ Diane Van Es, the 5K and 10K national record holder and 2024 European Championships 10,000 meters silver medalist and Canada’s Natasha Wodak, the national record holder in the marathon.

Additionally, the field includes American stars like Flanagan, who was the top American at the 2022 edition of this race, Frisbie, the fifth-place finisher and second American at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon and her teammate Popehn, a 2024 U.S. Olympian. Rogers, the 2022 NACAC Championships 5,000 meters champion who finished as the top American at the 2025 Chicago Marathon, will make her United Airlines NYC Half debut. American marathon record holder and two-time Olympian Sisson will return to New York after making her TCS New York City Marathon debut in November, finishing eighth. They are joined by Amanda Vestri, the 2025 national champion in the 6K and Susanna Sullivan, who holds the 10th fastest marathon time in American history and finished fourth at the 2025 World Championships marathon.

Closing out the field are local athletes from the five boroughs, led by Felicia Pasadyn and Gabrielle Yatauro. In her third-ever marathon Pasadyn, who competes for 212 Athletic-Saucony, qualified for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, running 2:35:17 at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon. She is a full-time student at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and previously qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in swimming. Yatauro runs with the Brooklyn Track Club and was honored as the top athlete in her age group (25-29) at the 2025 NYRR Club Night Awards. This will be her fourth United Airlines NYC Half, and she has improved each year, most recently placing 20th in 2024.

The United Airlines NYC Half women’s open and wheelchair division professional athlete fields are presented by Mastercard. The United Airlines NYC Half women’s open and wheelchair division professional athlete fields are presented by Mastercard.

Men's Wheelchair Division

Back-to-back United Airlines NYC Half champion Schipper will return to defend his title, looking to become the first men’s wheelchair athlete since Ernst Van Dyk in 2018 to secure a three-peat. Schipper is a three-time Paralympian with two medals to this name.

“The United Airlines NYC Half has become one of my favorite races because of the atmosphere and iconic course,” said Schipper. “The competition keeps getting stronger and that pushes me to be better each year.“

He will be accompanied by two additional Paralympians—Great Britain’s Johnboy Smith, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist who was third at the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half and the United States’ Romanchuk, a three-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and four-time Paralympic medalist. This will be Romanchuk’s return to racing after sustaining an injury at the 2025 Sydney Marathon.

Women's Wheelchair Division

The women’s wheelchair division will be headlined by defending champion Schär, who finished just off the podium in fourth at the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon. A staple at New York Road Runners races, Schär has placed in 10 out of her 11 TCS New York City Marathon appearances, including three victories.

“Racing in New York always brings out the best in me and I’m thrilled to be back,” said Schär. “I love this course and I’m excited to see if I can defend my title!“

She will face familiar competitors McFadden and Rainbow-Cooper. A veteran with 22 Paralympic medals to her name, McFadden is the most decorated American track and field athlete of all time. In her last six New York Road Runners races she has been the runner-up. Rainbow-Cooper is the young up-and-comer of the wheelchair division who won the 2024 Boston Marathon, her first Abbott World Marathon Majors title. At the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half she placed third behind McFadden.

First run in 2006, the NYC Half has been one of New York Road Runners’ most popular races, attracting athletes from around the world for the One to Run. United Airlines will serve as both the exclusive title partner and exclusive airline partner of the United Airlines NYC Half for the 10th year, activating on race day and during pre-race festivities at the all-new United Airlines NYC Half Expo Presented by New Balance, which has a new home at the iconic Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

The United Airlines NYC Half will be covered locally in the tri-state area by ABC New York, Channel 7 with live news cut-ins between 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Additionally, the four professional fields will be covered by a livestream, available on ESPN+, abc7ny.com, and NYRR’s digital channels beginning at 7:00 a.m. ET.

Professional Athlete Field - Men's Open Division

Bold = National Record

Professional Athlete Field - Women's Open Division

Bold = National Record

Professional Athlete Field - Men's Wheelchair Division

Bold = National Record

Professional Athlete Field - Women's Wheelchair Division

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About New York Road Runners (NYRR)

A New York City-based nonprofit, New York Road Runners’ vision is to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running – serving nearly a half a million people annually through its races, free community events, youth running initiatives, and school-based programs across the five boroughs. During its nearly 70 years, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization, producing more than 60 adult and youth races each year, including the TCS New York City Marathon. Held the first Sunday each November, the TCS New York City Marathon features more than 50,000 runners—from the world’s best professional athletes to a vast range of runners across experience levels, ages, genders, abilities, and backgrounds. To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.