New York Marathon Results 2021: Winners, Finishing Times and Highlights

After being canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 50th running of the New York City marathon made a triumphant return Sunday as more than 30,000 athletes wove their way 26.2 miles through the city's five boroughs.

Sunday's competition kicked off with the wheelchair races at 8 a.m. ET, followed soon after by the open women's professional race (8:40 a.m.) and the open men's (9:05 a.m.). Then, the first wave of the rest of the field started at 9:10 a.m.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men's wheelchair race in 1:31:24, which was good for the fifth-fastest time in event history. He finished more than six minutes ahead of the next competitor, a historic blowout.

Madison de Rozario of Australia won the women's wheelchair race in 1:51:01, approximately two minutes faster than Tatyana McFadden.

Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya was the women's race winner, finishing in 2:22:39, the third-fastest time in race history.

Albert Korir of Kenya won the men's race in 2:08:22, which puts him among the 20 fastest finishers in race history.

Full results can be viewed on the New York Road Runners website.

New York City Marathon Winners

Men's wheelchair race: Marcel Hug, 1:31:24

Women's wheelchair race: Madison de Rozario, 1:51:01

Women's race: Peres Jepchirchir, 2:22:39

Men's race: Albert Korir, 2:08:22

After five kilometers, Danish runner Thijs Nijhuis had gone 15:26, a 2:10 pace. Nijhuis was relatively unknown, having finished 70th at the Olympic marathon.

Through 23 miles, Viola Cheptoo and Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya and Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia were in a tight race for first place, while Molly Seidel of the United States was tracking about 43 seconds behind them in fourth. By mile 25, American Kellyn Taylor was in fifth.

Seidel did indeed finish as the top American in 2:24:42, more than a minute faster than the fastest American women's time in the New York City marathon.

Elkanah Kibet was the top finisher for the men, in 02:11:15.

The course records are 2:05:06 for men, set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011, and 2:22:31 for women (Margaret Okayo, 2003).

The winners of the men's and women's races earn $100,000 and the top American finishers (Seidel and Kibet) get a cool $25,000.

In a nod to the 50th anniversary of the race, if any runner had broken Mutai or Okayo's records, they would have earned a $50,000 bonus. Jepchirchir's winning time of 2:22:39 was just eight seconds shy of the 18-year-old record.

One of the angles of interest heading into the race was Zac Clark, who was a contestant on the 16th season of The Bachelorette and got engaged to Tayshia Adams. A seven-time marathon runner, Clark ran the marathon with Adams; the two trained together in Central Park.

Clark was outfitted by Reebok for the race and wore the Reebok Floatride Energy 3. Reebok donated pairs of Floatride to the 50-plus runners running on behalf of Clark's foundation, Release Recovery Foundation, which he co-founded to offer resources to people recovering from addiction.