Almgren, a marathon debutant, is the NYC favorite
A former 800m runner who worked part-time as a data scientist is the betting favorite for Sunday's New York City Marathon, and he has never run one.
Races and results
Almgren debuts at NYC as the favorite over Kipruto
Sweden's Andreas Almgren, the World Half Marathon champion, is among the favorites for Sunday's New York City Marathon in his debut at the distance, per Jonathan Gault. LetsRun says no sub-2:02 runners are on the line, that Almgren just ran 58:06, and that a 1:45 800m runner has never won a World Marathon Major.
Not your typical backstory for a marathon star.
How they train
Holmer: physical peak lands near 36, then about 1% a year
Brady Holmer flags a Swedish study that tested the same 427 people from age 16 to 63 and found most physical capacity peaked around or before 36, with losses of roughly 1% a year after that and more than 2% by 63. From peak to 63, people lost 37 to 40% of relative VO2 max.
A bit of “moveyourass.
Study: intervals cost max strength, not muscle growth
Brady Holmer points to a 2026 study where two groups lifted the same for 16 weeks and one added four long-interval HIIT sessions a week.
So cardio didn't stop muscle growth, but it did cost max strength.