Running News Daily

Tim Ritchie signed with Saucony and started his professional career on the track before moving into road racing in 2014. Ritchie raced 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons. “That was my inroads into being a professional runner,” Ritchie said. “I didn’t quite have the credentials when I graduated to sign a contract or be competing in the elite field in New York. I had to earn my way in.” Ritchie spent a year as a volunteer assistant with the Yale cross country team, while working with McKirdy Trained coaching services. He won the USATF Marathon National Championship last December at the California International Marathon in Sacramento. Ritchie moved up from 18th at the halfway mark with a blistering finish to claim the title in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 56 seconds. “There’s much more of a need for patience and self control in the early miles. I try to break the race up into stages, and keep reminding myself that I have what it takes.” Tim was hired to be the head track coach at UMass which started in June. “It’s a new life and a new adjustment, trying to find that balance,” Ritchie said. “It takes some discipline, time management, patience both on my part and my athletes have been truly patient and supportive of me, as well.” UMass finished sixth in the men’s race at last weekend’s Atlantic 10 Championships and 13th in the women’s team competition. “I’ve found it impressive how quickly he was able to gain the trust of the team,” UMass senior Michael Famiglietti said. “He’s still an athlete himself out there competing.”  Ritchie’s buildup for the New York Marathon has not been perfect. He’s had to adjust his schedule to full-time coaching and contend with injuries and illness, too. “I’m in a good rhythm now. From a running standpoint, being out in western Mass has been awesome for me,” Ritchie said. “This training environment is phenomenal when it comes to trails, dirt roads, hills’ it’s a beautiful place to go for a run every day.” The men’s New York elite field is stacked with nine Olympians and three major marathon champions from 2017. Ritchie doesn’t harbor hopes of winning. He understands the landscape of elite distance running right now and is focused on his own best race. “I want to get the most I can out of myself and run with pride,” Tim said.  

Des Linden has officially gone where the marathon can no longer take her.

The 2018 Boston Marathon champion completed her first 100-mile race at the Javelina Jundred in Arizona on Saturday, finishing in 16:58:00 to place ninth among the women and 39th overall. It was a demanding debut over 100 miles of desert trail, but for Linden, simply reaching the finish line was another remarkable chapter in a career that continues to evolve beyond the roads.

For much of the race, however, Linden looked capable of something far more ambitious than simply finishing.

She began cautiously, gradually working her way through the field before moving from fifth place into the women's lead. By mile 45.3, she was out front in 5:53:12, and she continued to extend her advantage. At mile 56.9, Linden was still leading, carrying a gap of roughly five minutes over Katie Asmuth.

Then came the moment when 100 miles began to feel very different from 26.2.

Linden completed 60.3 miles in 8:01:12, maintaining a remarkably strong pace deep into the race. But after reaching the aid station, she needed significant assistance from her crew, including a shoe change, and the momentum that had carried her into the lead began to disappear.

The change was dramatic.

The 4.3 miles from the 60.3-mile mark to Coyote Camp took Linden 1:22:37. By mile 64.6, she had surrendered the lead and slipped back through the women's field. What had looked like a potential victory challenge had become a battle of survival, patience and determination.

Yet Linden refused to stop.

Her final 39.7 miles took 8:56:48 — nearly an hour longer than the time she needed to cover her opening 60.3 miles. The difference illustrated just how brutally the final stages of a 100-mile race can punish even an experienced marathoner.

And the conditions offered little mercy.

Rain had already affected the course, leaving muddy sections and washouts, while further storms and heavy rain made the later stages particularly difficult. As darkness settled over the Arizona desert, Linden kept moving, adding another layer of difficulty to an already punishing first attempt at the distance.

Heather Jackson ultimately won the women's race in 13:48:29, edging Carla Molinaro by just 55 seconds, with Katie Asmuth third in 14:06:34. Jackson and Molinaro secured the two women's Golden Tickets to the 2027 Western States 100.

Linden's ninth-place finish left her outside those qualifying positions, but the result hardly diminishes what she accomplished. She came to Arizona to discover what 100 miles would demand from her — and she found out the hard way.

The distance was the part that had made her most nervous before the race.

In the end, it was exactly what she feared.

But she faced it anyway.

From winning Boston in 2018 to stepping away from professional road racing and embracing the world of ultrarunning, Linden has continued to challenge herself in ways that few athletes at her level would dare. Earlier this year, she finished third at the Marathon des Sables, a brutal multi-stage desert ultra that included a 100-kilometre long stage.

Now she can add another achievement to that growing trail résumé: 100 miles completed.

It was not the victory she may have glimpsed halfway through the night. It was not the Golden Ticket she might have dreamed about.

It was something perhaps more valuable for a first attempt — a hard-earned lesson in just how unforgiving 100 miles can be, and the satisfaction of knowing she kept going when the race stopped going according to plan.

For Des Linden, the marathon may have been the distance that made her famous.

But 100 miles may be where her next chapter truly begins.

The New York City Marathon is celebrated as a day of courage, endurance and achievement — a race where thousands of runners push their limits while families and friends wait eagerly to see them cross the finish line.

For one family, however, November 1, 2026, became a day of unimaginable heartbreak.

Twenty-four-year-old Rachel Apa, a former Division I field hockey athlete at Bucknell University, was running her first marathon when she collapsed in Central Park with roughly two miles remaining. She never made it to the finish line.

Rachel had entered the race with a deeply personal purpose. She was running in honour of her late grandfather, who had battled Parkinson’s disease, while raising money and awareness for Parkinson’s research and care.

Her family followed her journey closely as she made her way through the five boroughs.

Rachel exchanged messages with her father, Steve, during the race as he monitored her progress remotely. At Mile 18, she sent a brief message: “Ow.”

One mile later, another message arrived: “Ow ow.”

Then, at Mile 23, came her final message: “Final stretch.”

Those words would become heartbreaking in hindsight.

Rachel’s mother, Michelle, was waiting around Mile 25 in Central Park, expecting to see her daughter approaching the finish line. She was preparing for a moment of celebration — to watch Rachel complete the biggest running challenge of her life.

Instead, Rachel’s tracking-app location stopped moving around Mile 24.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., Rachel collapsed near 85th Street in Central Park. Spectators rushed to help, including medical professionals who began performing CPR. New York Road Runners’ medical team soon arrived with a defibrillator, and Rachel was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Doctors fought for more than six hours to save her life.

But at approximately 9:40 p.m., Rachel was pronounced dead.

According to her father, doctors attributed her death to rhabdomyolysis, a serious medical condition in which damaged muscle tissue breaks down rapidly and releases substances into the bloodstream that can cause severe complications.

The tragedy sent shockwaves through the running community.

New York Road Runners, organisers of the New York City Marathon, expressed deep sadness over Rachel’s death and extended their condolences to her family, friends and everyone affected by the loss.

Rachel’s marathon was never simply about completing 26.2 miles.

It was about family. It was about memory. It was about honouring her grandfather and helping others affected by Parkinson’s disease.

She had already pushed through more than 24 miles of one of the world’s toughest and most demanding marathon courses. She was so close to the finish line that her final message to her father was simply, “Final stretch.”

But the finish line she had spent months preparing for would remain out of reach.

For Rachel’s family, the New York City Marathon will forever be remembered not for the finish line, but for the devastating moment when a day of hope became a night of grief.

Her mother was waiting to celebrate her daughter’s achievement. Instead, she was left facing an unimaginable loss.

Rachel Apa was just 24 years old.

She came to New York chasing a dream, carrying the memory of someone she loved and running for a cause close to her heart. She never got to finish the race, but her story will remain with the people who knew her and with a running community that mourns her loss.

For Phily Bowden, the 2026 New York City Marathon was never going to be just another race.

At around 6 a.m. on Sunday, while travelling by bus toward the marathon start, the British marathoner received heartbreaking news that would change the meaning of the 26.2 miles ahead of her: her close friend and former training partner, Ciara Mageean, had died.

Mageean, the celebrated Irish middle-distance star and 2024 European 1500m champion, was just 34. She had been battling bowel cancer, and her death sent shockwaves through the athletics community.

For Bowden, the loss was deeply personal.

The two athletes shared years of memories, having trained together under coach Helen Clitheroe as part of the New Balance Manchester group. Their friendship extended far beyond running, and Bowden had only recently made a special journey to Ireland during the final stages of her marathon preparation so she could be present for Mageean’s wedding.

One week later, Bowden found herself standing on the start line in New York carrying a grief she could never have prepared for.

Yet despite the shock and heartbreak, she still ran.

It was Bowden’s first marathon since the 2025 London Marathon after an injury-interrupted period, and she admitted afterward that simply returning to the marathon itself felt like an important step forward.

The race, however, became an entirely different challenge from the one she had imagined.

Bowden spent around 14 miles running largely on her own, without the rhythm of a group to help pull her through the difficult stretches. Rather than allowing the isolation to break her, she gradually began to rebuild her momentum.

Over the final 10 kilometres, she started closing the gaps to the runners ahead, finding the strength to fight her way through the field and finish strongly.

She eventually crossed the line in 17th place in 2:30:45.

The result was well outside the 2:25:47 personal best she set in Berlin in 2024. But on a day when her mind was occupied by something infinitely bigger than a finishing time, Bowden knew the stopwatch could not tell the whole story.

She later admitted that parts of the race had become a blur.

There was an understandable struggle to care about seconds, places or performance when she had just lost someone so important to her. Bowden had tried to remain in “athlete mode” and concentrate on the process for 26.2 miles, but grief refused to be placed neatly to one side.

She was human, and the emotions followed her around every corner of New York.

And then came the thought of Mageean.

Bowden knew her friend would never have wanted her to surrender to the sadness. Mageean was a fighter in everything she pursued, both as an athlete and as a friend, and that memory became a source of strength during the race.

So Bowden fought for her.

She also paid tribute to the women in the professional field who helped her during the race, expressing her gratitude to those who were there to catch her when she needed support.

The marathon therefore became more than a comeback race. It became a deeply personal farewell and a celebration of a friendship that had meant so much.

Bowden also acknowledged the strange mixture of emotions that followed such an overwhelming day. Sadness, shock, happiness, pride, love and fear could somehow exist together, even when they seemed impossible to reconcile.

That, she realised, was part of the reality of living through grief.

And while carrying on without Mageean feels difficult, Bowden wants to honour her friend by embracing the things she believes Mageean would have wanted: finding moments of joy, making the most of life and laughing more than crying.

That may become Bowden’s way of keeping Mageean close.

For 26.2 miles, the streets of New York became more than a marathon course. They became a place of remembrance, resilience and love.

Bowden crossed the finish line in 17th, but the significance of her day went far beyond her position or 2:30:45.

She ran through grief. She fought when it would have been understandable to stop emotionally. And she carried the memory of an extraordinary friend from the starting line to the finish.

“This one was for you, Ciara,” Bowden wrote.

And in every difficult mile, every rally and every final push toward the finish, her friend was never far from her thoughts.

James Milner spent 24 years topping preseason fitness tests. On Sunday, the former Liverpool, Manchester City and England midfielder took that remarkable engine somewhere it could be measured over an entirely different distance — the streets of New York.

Milner completed the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon in 3:09:04, making an impressive marathon debut at the age of 40. He covered the 42.195-kilometre course at an average pace of approximately 4:28 per kilometre, taking on the bridges, rolling terrain and demanding late stages of one of the world's most iconic marathons.

The race was another demonstration of the endurance that became one of the defining features of Milner's extraordinary football career. For more than two decades, his work rate, professionalism and physical conditioning helped him compete at the highest level of English football.

He went out hard, as planned, reaching halfway in around 1:31 before paying some of the inevitable price during the second half. His closing half took approximately 1:38 — a familiar marathon story in which an ambitious early pace eventually begins collecting what was borrowed in the opening stages.

Still, Milner held on impressively to finish just over three hours, producing a performance that would have been remarkable for any first-time marathoner and particularly striking for an athlete who had only recently stepped away from professional football.

Milner retired at the end of last season after an extraordinary 658 Premier League appearances, the most in the history of the competition. Having turned 40 in January, he could easily have allowed retirement to become a quieter chapter of his life. Instead, he found another demanding sporting challenge and took it to one of the world's biggest stages.

This time, however, the motivation went beyond simply testing himself. Milner ran the New York City Marathon in support of his own foundation, adding a personal and charitable purpose to an already significant sporting challenge.

There is also an important part of Milner's story that can easily be overlooked: the injury setbacks he experienced late in his career. At one point, he endured a period when he was uncertain whether he would ever walk properly again. Yet he recovered, returned to professional football and continued competing at the highest level before eventually turning his attention to the marathon.

Before the race, Milner was careful not to become obsessed with the clock. He repeatedly emphasised that completing and enjoying his first marathon was more important than chasing a particular finishing time. But the competitive instincts that had driven him throughout his football career were never going to disappear completely.

And perhaps that is what makes his 3:09:04 even more interesting. Milner finished within ten minutes of the sub-three-hour marathon he once believed he could run — leaving him with something more valuable than simply a debut finishing time.

Most marathon debuts end with a finishing time.

This one ends with a target.

Motherhood didn't stop her. It simply became part of the journey. 

Just six months after giving birth, lifestyle influencer Allison Kuch took on one of the world's most iconic road races, completing the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon in a deeply personal debut that went far beyond the 26.2 miles.

For Kuch, the marathon was not simply about reaching the finish line. It was a demanding test of endurance, recovery and the realities of life as a new mother.

During the race, at around Mile 17, Kuch paused at an official lactation support station to breastfeed her six-month-old daughter before returning to the course and continuing her marathon journey.

The moment offered a remarkable glimpse into the reality of balancing motherhood with personal ambition. While many runners spend race day focused entirely on pacing, fueling and finishing times, Kuch had another responsibility waiting for her along the course — caring for her baby.

Her preparation for the marathon was far from straightforward. In the months leading up to her debut, Kuch openly documented the challenges of training while navigating life with a newborn, including severe sleep deprivation and a painful bout of mastitis.

Yet she continued to train, recover and prepare for the biggest running challenge of her life.

Running the New York City Marathon in partnership with Maybelline, Kuch also used the platform to support mental-health initiatives, turning her marathon experience into an opportunity to raise awareness around an issue that affects countless people.

Her support system was there to witness the achievement. Her husband, former NFL player Isaac Rochell, and her sister Emily were among those cheering her along the course.

Rochell later shared a video celebrating Kuch's extraordinary day, emphasizing that the world deserved to see what she had accomplished.

From pregnancy to postpartum recovery, breastfeeding and finally completing her first marathon, Kuch's journey represents a powerful story of resilience and determination.

She didn't simply run 26.2 miles through New York City.

She ran while embracing the demands of motherhood, proving that becoming a mother does not have to mean putting personal dreams on hold.

Sometimes, the journey simply looks different.

And for Allison Kuch, that journey carried her all the way to the finish line.