By Chris Chavez
February 18, 2025
The 2025 United Airlines NYC Half will feature a star-studded professional field on March 16, bringing together defending champions, Olympians, Paralympians, and national record holders. This year's race produced by NYRR is set to be one of the most competitive editions yet, with elite athletes from 14 countries competing on a new course for 2025.
Due to construction on South Street in Manhattan, the course has been altered to run over the Brooklyn Bridge instead of the Manhattan Bridge. This is the first time a NYRR race has crossed over the Brooklyn Bridge.
What You Need To Know:
– Defending champions Abel Kipchumba (KEN), Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (NOR), Geert Schipper (NED) and Susannah Scaroni (USA) will return to defend their titles.
– U.S. stars to watch include Conner Mantz, who recently broke the American half-marathon record (59:17) and Olympians Hillary Bor, Emily Sisson, Dakotah Lindwurm and Fiona O’Keeffe and the debut of Woody Kincaid.
– The wheelchair division will see elite competition, including 2024 TCS New York City Marathon champion Daniel Romanchuk and past NYC Half winners Manuela Schär and Tatyana McFadden.
Men’s Race Storylines To Watch:
– Kipchumba enters as the favorite after winning last year’s race and boasting a 58:07 personal best, the fastest in the field. He is getting ready to run the Boston Marathon in April.
– This will be the first time Mantz is introduced on the starting line as an American record holder following his 59:17 runner-up finish at the Houston Half last month. Mantz opted to race this half marathon over the U.S. Half Marathon Championships on March 2nd in Atlanta, where the top three finishers are selected for Team USA’s squad for September’s World Road Racing Championships. Mantz could still be chosen as a fourth team member is determined by World Rankings. Mantz is also preparing for the Boston Marathon.
– Two-time U.S. Olympian Woody Kincaid made a recent appearance on The COFFEE CLUB Podcast, where he teased the idea of running the Houston Half but did not enter the race. Kincaid also said he plans on making his marathon debut in 2026. Kincaid is also preparing to race Sound Running’s The Ten at the end of March to chase the 2025 World Championship qualifying standard of 27:00 for 10,000m. Last year, he ran a personal best of 26:57.57 at the meet before going on to take second at the U.S. Olympic Trials and 16th at the Paris Olympics.
– Moh Ahmed, the four-time Canadian Olympian and record holder at 5000m and 10,000m, is finally making his half-marathon debut. He was set to run the 2024 Houston Half but withdrew due to a setback in training. He was fourth in the 10,000m at the Paris Olympics last summer in a season’s best of 26:43.79. He will be up against his compatriot Ben Flanagan, who holds the Canadian record in the road 5K and 10K.
Women’s Storylines To Watch:
– Grøvdal is coming off a European Championships half-marathon gold and Olympic top-10 finish in the 5,000m.
– The U.S. Olympic marathon squad—Sisson, O’Keeffe, Popehn—are all racing against each other for the first time since the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Popehn, who was the top American at the Summer Games with a 12th place finish, is preparing for the Boston Marathon. Sisson has taken her time getting back into racing after the Paris Olympic marathon and will bypass a spring marathon. O’Keeffe is entered in a race for the first time since dropping out of the Olympic Marathon just after the 5K mark. She later revealed that she was dealing with a hip injury but a pre-race MRI had come back clear.
– Sharon Lokedi, the 2022 NYC Marathon champion and 2024 Boston Marathon runner-up, has entered her first half marathon since 2023. Lokedi, 2018 Boston Marathon champion Des Linden and U.S. Masters marathon record holder Sara Hall are among those using this race to get ready for April’s Boston Marathon.
Here are the full fields:
Women’s Division
🇮🇱 Lonah Chemtai Salpeter – 1:06:09 (Prague, 2019)
🇺🇸 Emily Sisson – 1:06:52 (Houston, 2024)
🇳🇴 Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal – 1:06:55 (Copenhagen, 2024)
🇬🇧 Calli Hauger-Thackery – 1:06:58 (Marugame, JPN, 2025)
🇺🇸 Sara Hall – 1:07:15 (Houston, 2022)
🇰🇪 Sharon Lokedi – 1:07:42 (South Shields, GBR, 2023)
🇺🇸 Fiona O’Keeffe – 1:07:42 (Houston, 2022)
🇺🇸 Dakotah Popehn – 1:08:04 (Duluth, Minn., 2024)
🇸🇪 Sarah Lahti – 1:08:19 NR (Valencia, 2021)
🇨🇭 Fabienne Schlumpf – 1:08:27 NR (Dresden, GER, 2021)
🇺🇸 Emily Venters – 1:08:48 (Houston, 2025)
🇺🇸 Lauren Gregory – 1:09:12 (Mesa, Ariz., 2025)
🇺🇸 Lindsay Flanagan – 1:09:17 (Houston, 2025)
🇺🇸 Allie Kieffer – 1:09:17 (Ostia, ITA, 2022)
🇳🇱 Diane Van Es – 1:09:31 (Barcelona, 2024)
🇺🇸 Susanna Sullivan – 1:09:42 (Philadelphia, 2024)
🇺🇸 Emma Bates – 1:09:44 (Shelby Twp, Mich., 2020)
🇺🇸 Kim Conley – 1:09:44 (Houston, 2015)
🇺🇸 Stephanie Bruce – 1:09:55 (Valley, N.E., 2021)
🇬🇧 Rose Harvey – 1:10:02 (London, 2023)
🇺🇸 Kellyn Taylor – 1:10:16 (Las Vegas, 2018)
🇺🇸 Desiree Linden – 1:10:34 (Naples, 2011)
🇬🇧 Amy-Eloise Neale – 1:11:12 (South Shields, GBR, 2022)
🇺🇸 Kaylee Flanagan – 1:12:53 (Ashland, Tenn., 2022)
🇺🇸 Sara Vaughn – 1:12:56 (NYC Half, 2022)
🇺🇸 Kathryn Fluehr – 1:14:01 (Indianapolis, 2018)
🇺🇸 Alexandra Conway – 1:15:05 (Valley Cottage, N.Y., 2023)
🇺🇸 Alana Levy – 1:15:46 (RBC Brooklyn, 2024)
🇺🇸 Gabrielle Yatauro – 1:15:59 (RBC Brooklyn, 2022)
🇺🇸 Brooke Starn – 1:16:00 (RBC Brooklyn, 2024)
🇺🇸 Stephanie Diacovo – 1:18:27 (NYC Half, 2024)
🇺🇸 Jennifer Donnelly – 1:18:47 (Virtual RBC Brooklyn Half, 2020)
Men’s Division
🇰🇪 Abel Kipchumba – 58:07 (Valencia, 2021)
🇺🇸 Conner Mantz – 59:17 NR (Houston, 2025)
🇰🇪 Richard Etir – 59:32 (Marugame, JPN, 2024)
🇬🇧 Patrick Dever – 1:00:11 (Houston, 2025)
🇺🇸 Hillary Bor – 1:00:20 (Houston, 2025)
🇯🇵 Yudai Kiyama – 1:00:32 (Marugame, JPN, 2025)
🇰🇪 Wesley Kiptoo – 1:00:34 (Houston, 2025)
🇺🇸 Biya Simbassa – 1:00:37 (Valencia, 2023)
🇺🇸 Reed Fischer – 1:00:54 (Houston, 2025)
🇨🇦 Ben Flanagan – 1:01:00 (Valencia, 2022)
🇰🇪 Alex Masai – 1:01:04 (Houston, 2025)
🇬🇧 Jack Rowe – 1:01:08 (Greenwich, GBR, 2023)
🇪🇷 Yemane Haileselassie – 1:01:34 (Houston, 2024)
🇯🇵 Hibiki Murakami – 1:01:46 (Marugame, JPN, 2025)
🇨🇴 Jose Mauricio Gonzalez – 1:02:16 (Barcelona, 2021)
🇨🇦 Tristan Woodfine – 1:02:40 (Boston, 2023)
🇨🇦 Andrew Davies – 1:03:05 (Vancouver, 2025)
🇺🇸 Charlie Sweeney – 1:03:31 (Indianapolis, 2023)
🇺🇸 Connor Winter – 1:03:31 (Indianapolis, 2023)
🇬🇧 Liam Dee – 1:03:43 (Valencia, 2024)
🇺🇸 Nick Hauger – 1:03:48 (South Shields, GBR, 2024)
🇺🇸 Tim McGowan – 1:03:54 (Philadelphia, 2023)
🇸🇬 Rui Yong Soh – 1:06:45 NR (Valencia, 2023)
🇺🇸 Jordan Daniel – 1:06:48 (Valley Cottage, N.Y., 2023)
🇨🇦 Mohammed Ahmed – Debut
🇺🇸 Luke Combs – Debut
🇺🇸 Colin Daly – Debut
🇺🇸 Woody Kincaid – Debut
Men’s Wheelchair Division
🇬🇧 Johnboy Smith – 43:34 (Great North Run, 2019)
🇺🇸 Daniel Romanchuk – 43:54 (Chicago, 2023)
🇺🇸 Evan Correll – 44:30 (Chicago, 2023)
🇺🇸 Jason Robinson – 47:58 (Chicago, 2023)
🇺🇸 Brian Siemann – 47:58 (Chicago, 2023)
🇺🇸 Hermin Garic – 48:15 (Philadelphia, 2023)
🇳🇱 Geert Schipper – 48:43 (NYC Half, 2024)
🇺🇸 Phillip Croft – 1:02 (NYC Half, 2022)
🇺🇸 Jeffrey Files – Debut
Women’s Wheelchair Division
🇺🇸 Susannah Scaroni – 46:07 (Chicago, 2022)
🇺🇸 Hannah Dederick – 52:22 (Chicago, 2022)
🇺🇸 Tatyana McFadden – 52:25 (NYC Half, 2016)
🇨🇭 Manuela Schär – 53:10 (NYC Half, 2016)
🇺🇸 Linden Williamson – 58:03 (Orlando, 2024)
🇺🇸 Heather Sealover – 59:12 (Orlando, 2024)
🇺🇸 Michelle Wheeler – 1:00 (Philadelphia, 2022)
🇪🇬 Hoda Elshorbagy – 1:00 (Illinois Half, 2023)
How to Watch
The race will be broadcast locally on ABC New York and live-streamed on ESPN+ and NYRR digital channels starting at 7:00 a.m. ET.
Chris Chavez
Chris Chavez launched CITIUS MAG in 2016 as a passion project while working full-time for Sports Illustrated. He covered the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and grew his humble blog into a multi-pronged media company. He completed all six World Marathon Majors and on Feb. 15th, 2025 finally broke five minutes for the mile.
