In the 53rd edition of the New York City Marathon, over 50,000 runners of all ages stepped up to the line in Staten Island before making their way through all five of New York's boroughs.

On a crisp and cool November morning, a race full of tactics and grit made the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon one of the most electric renditions in recent memory.

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• 2024 New York City Marathon: Recap and Highlights

Sheila Chepkirui Holds Off Hellen Obiri For NYC Marathon Win In Race Debut

You don't see it often, but for the first 25km of this year's race, the lead pack remained intact with a large number of contenders. Whether it was one of the two previous champions (Hellen Obiri (2023) and Sharon Lokedi (2022)) or one of the American favorites like Sara Vaugh and Jess McClain, the coveted laurel wreath was still anyone's to claim.

Eventually, moves were made and the lead pack shrunk, leaving just 10 women left at 30k following a 5:26 mile, the fastest of the day at that point. From there on out, the race only ramped up as the experienced pack continued to click off increasingly fast splits. 

The pack continued to dispel contenders until Kenya's trio of Sheila Chepkirui, Vivian Cheruiyot, and Hellen Obiri were the only three remaining. Shortly thereafter,  that trio narrowed to a duo as Cheruiyot fell off the pack.

Obiri and Chepkirui abruptly dropped Cheruiyot before exchanging blows in a final battle through the trails of Central Park. Down the final stretch, Chepkirui out-kicked the defending champion. She dug deep to come out victorious against one of the greatest women's distance runners of all-time.

Though Obiri had to ultimately settle for silver, her 2024 campaign was nothing short of incredible. She battled a series of minor setbacks to win the Boston Marathon, claimed Olympic Bronze in Paris, and ended the year with silver in the 'Big Apple'.

After falling off with a few miles to go, Vivian Cheruiyot finished third in 2:25:51 to make it a Kenyan sweep of the podium. 

Bahrain's Eunice Chumba and Switzerland's Fabienne Schlumph filled out the top five. They finished in 2:25:58 and 2:26:31, respectively.

Sara Vaughn, who pushed the pace a few times during her stint with the front pack, finished sixth in 2:26:56 and was the first American across the finish line.

Paris Olympian Jess McClain and tried-and-true marathoner Kellyn Taylor finished eighth and 10th, while 2022 champion Sharon Lokedi finished in ninth.

Abdi Nageeye Avenges Paris Olympics With First World Marathon Major Win

Quickly after the gun went off, it didn't take long for Conner Mantz and a group of gutsy runners to establish a 50 meter gap on some of the top marathoners in the world. Eventually, the chase pack drew Mantz and company back in, and the group came through the first 5k around 16:00 

Over the next few miles, multiple attempts were made at breaking the race open, but a series of moves that included Canada's Rory Linkletter and American CJ Albertson were quickly dealt with by the pack.

As the lead group approached 20k with a contingent of more than 25 runners, a push from Kenya's Abel Kipchumba caused a stir, essentially breaking the race wide open.

Before the halfway mark, Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola, the reigning champ and Paris 2024 gold medalist, was leading the remnants of what was once a large pack, with both Mantz and training partner Clayton Young still comfortably in contention.

By the time the lead men clicked off their 20th mile, the group had dwindled down to just Tola, Evans Chebet (Kenya), Geoffrey Kamworor (Kenya), Abdi Nageeye (Netherlands), and Albert Korir (Kenya). 

After doing the bulk of the heavy-lifting in middle miles, the front pack dropped Tola utilizing a swift 4:37 mile pace to do so, making a way for a new winner to be crowned once it was all said and done.

In the end, it was Abdi Nageeye who broke the tape after breaking Evans Chebet in the final mile. Nageeye clocked 2:07:39, while Chebet was a mere six seconds back in 2:07:45. 

The 35-year-old had never won a World Marathon Major before today, but after a disappointing time in Paris, Nageeye held off Chebet, the 2022 champ, to avenge his Olympic heartbreak.

Tola, who finished fourth in 'no man's land', crossed in 2:08:12, well ahead of fifth place finisher Geoffrey Kamworor in 2:08:50.

After finishing eighth and ninth in Paris this past August, training partners Conner Mantz and Clayton Young followed that up with a pair of sixth and seventh place finishes in New York, as they were the top two Americans.

Kenya's Abel Kipchumba and Belgium's Bashir Abdi placed eighth and ninth, while American CJ Albertson was 10th overall ahead of a trio of American men. 

In total, six American men who finished in the top 15, as Ryan Ford, Colin Bennie, and Frank Lara finished in 11th, 12th, and 13th, respectively, with both Ford and Lara notching lifetime bests.