Hug Beats Romanchuk by 1.13 Seconds for Eighth New York Marathon Wheelchair Title

Marcel Hug of Switzerland won the men's professional wheelchair division of the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday in 1 hour, 28 minutes, 14 seconds. It was his eighth New York title. Daniel Romanchuk of the United States finished second in 1:28:15, just 1.13 seconds behind Hug, according to preliminary New York Road Runners results reported by FloTrack.

USA Today reported that Hug broke the tape after overtaking Romanchuk in the final 100 metres in Central Park, and called the finish the closest victory in the event's history. A gap of one second on the clock covered 26.2 miles of racing across the five boroughs.

A lead that changed hands

The two men traded the lead for most of the morning. Hug held a 20 second lead at 5 kilometres, but Romanchuk closed the gap by 10 kilometres. From there the race stayed tight. FloTrack reported that they were separated by less than a second at 20 kilometres, 25 kilometres, 30 kilometres and 40 kilometres.

Hug reached 40 kilometres just 0.20 seconds ahead of Romanchuk and held on from there. Both athletes averaged about 3 minutes, 22 seconds per mile, a mark of how evenly matched they were over the full course.

Eighth title for the Silver Bullet

Hug is 40 years old and is nicknamed the Silver Bullet. His earlier New York wins came in 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023 and last year, so Sunday's win extended his record total of New York men's wheelchair victories to eight.

Romanchuk is 28 and a three time New York champion. He did not race in New York in 2025 after he hurt his shoulder in an on course collision with a spectator at the Sydney Marathon. He returned this year and came within 1.13 seconds of a fourth title.

Race day in New York

The men's professional wheelchair division started the day at 8 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, November 1. USA Today reported cloudy and calm conditions at the start, with temperatures in the mid 40s Fahrenheit and very little wind.

The course starts on Staten Island and crosses the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. It then runs through Queens and Manhattan, reaches the Bronx, returns to Manhattan at mile 22 and finishes in Central Park at 67th Street on West Drive. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the five borough course, first run on October 24, 1976. More than 60,000 runners from 140 countries were expected to take part this year, after a record 59,226 runners crossed the finish line in 2025. The published prize list puts first prize in the wheelchair division at 50,000 dollars.

This report covers the men's wheelchair division only. The professional women's open division started at 8:35 a.m. and the professional men's open division at 9:05 a.m., and both were still running when the wheelchair result was confirmed, so no open division winners are reported here.