Happy November, readers! The leaves have turned, the clocks have changed, there’s a chill in the air… and the qualifying window for the 2028 Olympic marathon is officially open.

The 55th New York City Marathon will, in many ways, be looked back upon as the beginning of a new and intriguing chapter in the sport. In his first-ever marathon, Andreas Almgren looked like a savvy veteran en route to a flawlessly-executed 2:06:01 victory. Together with Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy (second in 2:06:14) and Kamohelo Mofolo of Lesotho (third in 2:06:26), it was the first NYC Marathon podium without a Kenyan or Ethiopian since 1994, when Mexico swept the top men’s spots. In a city defined by its melting-pot culture, it was a fitting symbol of how increasingly global the international marathoning scene has gotten.

The women’s race featured more familiar faces, with Sheila Chepkirui reclaiming the top spot after winning in 2024 and finishing third in 2025. Hellen Obiri finished a surprising third in her fourth straight podium appearance, one spot ahead of 46-year-old Edna Kiplagat, who won the race an astonishing 16 years prior and is still a true contender at the highest level.

And of course, sandwiched in between Chepkirui and Obiri was someone who’d never finished top three at a World Marathon Major before: 34-year-old Jess McClain, who became the first American woman to podium in NYC since Shalane Flanagan in 2018.

McClain measured her effort through Central Park perfectly, letting Chepkirui burn the wheels off Obiri over the last mile of the race then pipping the two-time champ at the line, 2:24:42 to 2:24:43. But even before that, McClain was racing like a woman who belonged. Through 23 miles or so, she was comfortably and calmly locked into the lead group as it dwindled from 11 at half, to eight at 30K, to five with two miles to go. As Chepkirui and Obiri took control at the front to keep the pace honest and make the competition hurt, McClain hung tough until she was the last American standing—Carrie Ellwood would end up sixth and Weini Kelati seventh. Though McClain couldn’t quite match Chepkirui’s speed at the very end, McClain, whose PB is only 2:20:49, got the better of a four-time WMM champ (who also owns World titles on the track) in Obiri.

With her top-five run, McClain gets more than just a $60,000 paycheck. She also secures Team USA’s first automatic qualifier for the 2028 Olympic marathon, because NYC is a Platinum Label race. We don’t yet know the time required for LA28, but now McCLain has the comfort of knowing she doesn’t have to run another big one between now and the Olympic Trials.

On the men’s side, the closest any Americans got was Zouhair Talbi, who took sixth in 2:06:43 just nine seconds out of fifth place. Talbi was the top American in all three marathons he started this year, he’s also the only American to ever break 2:07 in the Big Apple and the fastest all-conditions marathoner in U.S. history with his 2:03:45 in Boston.

Not only did Talbi mix it up at the finish; he dictated the terms of the race in the middle miles. At multiple points from halfway onward, Talbi threw surges at the lead pack, opening up a small lead a few times that didn’t quite hold, but still sent a clear message that he wasn’t just racing for participation points. He was trying to win.

Talbi is, at this point, unquestionably the best American marathoner of the year. American record holder Conner Mantz ran fast in NYC, but his 2:07:27 was only good for 11th overall and fourth American. Others in the conversation include Clayton Young, Vinny Mauri, Charles Hicks, and two other top-ten finishers in New York—Ryan Ford (tenth) and Ahmed Muhumed, who finished a terrific eighth in his first crack at the distance. But Talbi has beaten all those guys except Mauri head-to-head this season. While he’s yet to land on a WMM podium, it feels like only a matter of time for the two-time Houston champ.

The most recent Americans to win a World Major are Des Linden in 2018 and Galen Rupp in 2017. In two of the last three Olympics, an American has medaled (Rupp and Molly Seidel). But not since 2004 has Team USA put multiple medalists on the podium, when Meb Keflezighi placed second and Deena Kastor secured bronze. With a pair of strong runs each in Boston and New York, Talbi and McClain have shown the ability to thrive in tough, championship-style races—the exact kind of skillset needed to deliver in LA.

Just as encouragingly, neither Talbi nor McClain is so far ahead of the pack that they’re the country’s only hopes. Should Young and Mantz make the team, they’ll have the confidence that comes from finishing top ten in the same race in 2024. Should Emily Sisson or Fiona O’Keeffe return to the circuit, they’ve both shown the ability to hang with the world’s best. And let’s not forget that both Kelati and Muhumed just finished top ten in their marathon debuts. In Muhumed’s case, it was the second-fastest debut by an American ever… behind, of course, Mauri, who also clearly has a sky-high ceiling.

The results from New York made the goal clear: Team USA can deliver two or more marathon medals at their home Olympics. The gap has shrunk between the best marathoners in the country and the best marathoners in the world, and the domestic competition has created a rising tide that’s lifted all boats. We still have to deal with the formality of qualifying at least five more runners and selecting a team, but every big race in the next 20 months will serve as a dress rehearsal of sorts for the biggest stage of all. And when LA28 arrives, the local entrants in the longest race of the biggest meet will be ready.

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