The short version: At the second World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen (September 19–20, 2026), Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich won the half marathon in 1:05:15, a women-only world record by one second. Sweden’s Andreas Almgren won the men’s half in a European-record 58:06. For Team USA, Drew Hunter ran 13:14 for an American road 5K record, Yared Nuguse took silver in the road mile, and the U.S. won three team medals, including gold in the mixed mile.
This championship is the half marathon, 5K and road mile in one weekend, with mass races for recreational runners on the same streets. Sport Event Denmark put the recreational field at about 60,000. Here is what happened, and why it matters if your own goal race this winter is a Texas half.
Half marathon: a record and a 58-minute win
| Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Agnes Ngetich (KEN) 1:05:15 | Andreas Almgren (SWE) 58:06 |
| 2nd | Veronica Loleo (KEN) 1:06:05 | Nicholas Kipkorir (KEN) 58:11 |
| 3rd | Florence Niyonkuru (RWA) 1:06:08 | Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) 58:26 |
| Top American | Emma Grace Hurley, 5th, 1:06:23 | Conner Mantz, 12th, 1:00:08 |
What “women-only” means: World Athletics keeps two women’s road records, one for races where women run with men who can pace them, and one for women-only races. Ngetich’s 1:05:15 beat the women-only mark of 1:05:16 that Peres Jepchirchir set in Gdynia in 2020. Almgren’s 58:06 took 35 seconds off the European record, and World Athletics lists it ninth on the all-time list.
The Americans ran well as a group. Hurley (5th), Weini Kelati (6th, 1:06:35) and Jess McClain (7th, 1:06:53) won team silver behind Kenya. On the men’s side, Mantz (12th), Ahmed Muhumed (13th, 1:00:15), Wesley Kiptoo and Hillary Bor took team bronze behind Kenya and Ethiopia. Mantz, who holds the American marathon record, runs the NYC Marathon on November 1.
Road mile and 5K
- Men’s mile: Robert Farken (GER) 3:51.80, Yared Nuguse (USA) 3:52.33, Ruben Querinjean (LUX) 3:52.77. NBC Sports reports Nuguse led for three minutes before Farken, his training partner, passed him in the last 20 seconds.
- Women’s mile: Agathe Guillemot (FRA) 4:22.74, Freweyni Hailu (ETH) 4:24.35, Mirriam Cherop (KEN) 4:25.71. Addy Wiley (4:31.02) and Gracie Hyde (4:31.92) were the top Americans.
- Mixed mile team: Nuguse, Vince Ciattei, Wiley and Hyde combined for gold, beating Australia by less than a second.
- Men’s 5K: Dawit Seare (ERI) 12:56, Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) 12:59, Saymon Amanuel (ERI) 13:00. Drew Hunter was 11th in 13:14, three seconds under the old American road 5K record.
- Women’s 5K: Likina Amebaw (ETH) 14:41, Caroline Makandi Gitonga (KEN) 14:48, Rose Davies (AUS) 14:50. Allie Ostrander was the top American in 15:10.
What it means for a Texas runner
Most of us aren’t chasing 58 minutes, but this race makes a few points that apply to anyone with a half on the calendar:
- The half is the event of the season. Texas has a deep winter half schedule: the net-downhill Spurs Austin International Half on January 17, the sold-out Aramco Houston Half the same morning, the hilly Transmountain Half in El Paso on November 8, and dozens more on our Texas half marathon calendar.
- Short and fast counts too. The 5K and the road mile are now championship events. A fall 5K is a good fitness check before a winter half; browse 5Ks in Texas or the October race calendar.
- Train the easy days easy. Elite half marathoners do most of their running slowly. Our zone 2 guide explains how to do that in Texas heat.
The next World Road Running Championships are in Yangzhou, China, in 2027; Athletics New Zealand lists March 28–29. Next up for the big-city marathons: Chicago on October 11, after Berlin’s course record.
