They ran New York. The stories behind the 2026 celebrity marathon finishes
By AthRecs Editorial · Checked 2 November 2026
Martín Fiz wanted one thing from his last marathon. He wanted to finish it holding his son’s hand. On Sunday in Central Park he did, just as Álex Fiz finished his first. Elsewhere on the course, James Milner ran for his foundation and Jennifer Connelly carried Fred’s Team across the line.
When we introduced these runners on Saturday, their plans were still in the future tense. Now there are medals, official finish times and a few details that only came out after 26.2 miles. One of the best came from Fiz. The former world champion told EFE that he and Álex had stopped along the way to take photographs with their family. In the results Álex has 3:01:11 and Martín 3:01:13. In the family album they finished together.
There was a third medal to take home. Ana Churruca, Martín’s wife and Álex’s mother, finished in 3:51:56. For Martín it was marathon number 42, thirty years after he first raced New York.
A first medal for James Milner and another for Tiki Barber
James Milner spent 24 seasons playing English league football. His first marathon came a few months into retirement. Running for the James Milner Foundation, the former England midfielder made it from Staten Island to Central Park in 3:09:04.
Tiki Barber built a second sporting life on these streets after his years as a New York Giants running back. He already had more than 15 marathons to his name when he lined up on Sunday. His 5:11:49 gave his hometown crowd another chance to cheer him home.
Jennifer Connelly finished in 3:40:09 running for Fred’s Team, which raises money for cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski ran for a cause rooted in the city itself. His 4:22:15 was for City Harvest, which gets food to New Yorkers facing hunger.
A first marathon at 80 and a family day for Zarna Garg
Mildred Baker was in her late seventies when she started running with NYRR Striders. She finished her first half marathon last year, and on Sunday the 80-year-old from the Bronx completed her first full marathon in 7:03:49.
Comedian Zarna Garg had spent years watching her children’s swimming meets and skating competitions. This time she asked her two older children to walk a marathon with her. On Sunday she completed her first marathon in 9:21:51.
For ABC7’s Liz Cho, one of the best moments came at mile eight in Brooklyn, where she spotted her mother and her daughter Lulu. She finished her first marathon in 4:15:07. Her colleague Mike Marza completed his second in 3:50:39. Both ran for the Alzheimer’s Association in honour of fellow anchor Bill Ritter, who was there to welcome them at the finish.
Carl Radke had five seconds to spare
Before his fourth marathon, Summer House’s Carl Radke told Decider what he wanted from New York. He had finished London in 4:02, New York in 4:04 and Berlin in 4:24. This time he wanted to break four hours. His official net time on Sunday was 3:59:55, a marathon personal best.
Radke ran to raise money for the Release Recovery Foundation, which helps people access addiction treatment.
Five New York medals for a team from Canterbury
A group from New Zealand set out to help Te Tahi Youth fit out its centre at Eastgate in Christchurch. All five made it home. Former All Blacks Kieran Read, Ryan Crotty and Colin Slade earned their medals alongside Crusaders team manager Aaron Webb and endurance athlete Shane Thrower. Read crossed in 5:56:47 and Crotty in 4:13:27. Slade recorded 3:27:52, Webb 3:39:10 and Thrower 3:39:40.
The reason those five entries belonged together was back in Canterbury. The Eastgate centre will give young people a place to get free health care, counselling and help finding work.
Find a finisher from our race preview
Find one of the 81 confirmed finishers below and select their name to open their AthRecs profile. Times are NYRR net times, measured from the runner’s own start to the finish. The names are listed alphabetically. We include a result once we can match it to the person in the preview.