When the elites line up for the New York City Marathon on November 1, there will be a mix of former winners, Olympic medalists, and two of the top American marathoners in the country, Conner Mantz and Zouhair Talbi. Looking to spoil the party will be Andreas Almgren, a 31-year-old Swedish runner who won the World Half Marathon Championships in September. This will be Almgren’s debut at the 26.2-mile distance.
Despite his inexperience, he’s a legitimate threat for the podium. Almgren has an unconventional background as a pro runner. He was working a full-time job as a data scientist just two years ago.
He mostly trains alone and coaches himself. But he’s far from a competitive amateur. He’s sponsored by Nike and has set European records in the road 10K (26:45) and half marathon (58:06).
Although his strengths have been on the track and shorter road events, Almgren has leaned fully into marathon training this fall, logging more than 135 miles a week and tackling long runs over 24 miles. He says he’s well-prepared heading into New York. I’ve done a few really good workouts.
But the marathon is a different beast. You don’t really know until you're reaching that 35K mark if you're going to make it or not. But I’m feeling really good.” Here are six things to know about Almgren ahead of his marathon debut in New York City.
Almgren first made a splash on the world scene as an 800-meter specialist, earning bronze in the event at the World Junior Championships in 2014. For about a decade, he was coached by Urban Aruhn, but around 2019, Almgren began experimenting with Norwegian threshold training and gradually started to create his own training plans. Aruhn is still involved today, but in a more general role.
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