Catherine Debrunner and Marcel Hug set records at 2023 New York City Marathon

Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner set a new course records for the women’s wheelchair division at the 2023 TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday (5 November). Marcel Hug completed a Swiss wheelchair racing sweep making history in the men’s race. 

Hug won a record-setting sixth career New York City Marathon, sweeping all six Abbott World Marathon Majors races in 2023, becoming the first man to ever do so. He won in 1:25:29, just three seconds off his own course record set in 2022.

“Honestly, I tried to not have this in my mind that it could be the sixth win here. But now slowly I am realizing what happened, and I'm so, so happy for this season and for this race today,” Hug said.

Daniel Romanchuk of the United States was second in 1:30:07, followed by Jetze Plat of the Netherlands in third in 1:34:22. The three men finished in the same podium spots last year. 

In the women’s wheelchair division, Debrunner won her debut New York City Marathon, setting a new course record in 1:39:32. Earlier this year she broke the course records at the Chicago and Berlin Marathons, where she also set the marathon world record.

“I must say it’s difficult at the moment to find good words for the race because it has been a fairytale year with all the records and marathon victories. It was just amazing. I really don’t have the words for it,” Debrunner said.

Swiss compatriot Manuela Schaer finished second in 1:48:14 and last year’s champion, Susannah Scaroni of USA, was third in 1:48:14.

U.S. Paralympics selection

For the first time, the professional men’s and women’s wheelchair races at the TCS New York City Marathon served as the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field Marathon Selection event. The top two U.S. finishers in the wheelchair races – Daniel Romanchuk and Aaron Pike in the men’s division and Susannah Scaroni and Tatyana McFadden in the women’s event – earned spots on Team USA at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia won the men’s open division breaking a 12-year-old course record in 2:04:58. Kenya’s    Hellen Obiri was the winner of the women’s open division in New York (2:27:23).

The 2023 TCS New York City Marathon welcomed 50,000 runners from around 150 countries and all 50 U.S. states. As one of the city’s most anticipated and iconic annual sporting events, the TCS New York City Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series made up of the world’s six largest and most renowned road races – the Tokyo, Boston, London, Chicago, Berlin, and New York City Marathons. New York marked the last stop on the Abbott World Marathon Majors Series XV.

Complete results from the 2023 New York City Marathon can be found here.