MASTERCARD NEW YORK MINI 10-K TO FEATURE TRIO OF TOP KENYANS
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
NEW YORK (27-May) — The 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K –the world’s first-ever all-women’s road race founded by New York Road Runners in 1972– will feature a powerhouse international field headlined by three of Kenya’s best athletes: Hellen Obiri, reigning Mini and TCS New York City Marathon champion; Agnes Ngetich, reigning world cross country champion and 10-K world record-holder; and Sharon Lokedi, two-time Boston Marathon champion.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Out of the forty-woman elite field announced today for the June 6 race in Central Park, 15 have personal bests under 32:00 (21 under 33:00), and the race will feature 10 Olympians and Paralympians, nine global medalists, and multiple national record holders representing nine different countries. Twenty-eight USA women are scheduled to compete.
Obiri (On Athletics Club), 36, the only athlete in history to win world titles in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, has been particularly successful in racing in New York. She has won the TCS New York City Marathon twice (2023 and 2025/course record), the United Airlines NYC Half twice (2023 and 2026), and the Mini once (2025). Her personal best is 30:15 (Manchester, 2022), and her best time at the Mini is 30:19 when she finished second in 2023 to Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi. The Mini course is slightly downhill and is not eligible for record-setting.
“I am looking forward to returning to Central Park after setting a course record at the TCS New York City Marathon and winning the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K last year,” Obiri said through a statement. “I am excited to take on this challenge among a competitive group of women athletes and the 10,000 women who will be inspiring and motivating each other on the course.”
Ngetich (adidas), 25, set the World Athletics-ratified world record of 28:46 in Valencia in January 2024 and also holds the women-only world record of 29:27, set in Herzogenaurach, Germany, in 2025. Coming off of her World Athletics Cross Country Championships victory in Tallahassee last January, she hoped to run well at the United NYC Half last March, but suffered from hypothermia and only finished 13th after sharing the lead with Obiri in the first half of the race. She will be making her Mini debut.
Lokedi (Under Armour), 32, successfully defended her title at the Boston Marathon last April after finishing second to Obiri at the NYC Half. Like Obiri, she has been very successful running in New York. She won the NYC Half in 2025, the NYC Marathon in 2022, and was second twice in the Mini (2022 and 2024).
There are three Europeans in the field, including Slovenia’s Klara Lukan (Puma), the European record-holder and the second-fastest woman in the field with a 29:51 personal best. The 25-year-old will make her USA road-running debut at the Mini.
The Americans will be well-represented by Weini Kelati (Nike), Emma Grace Hurley (Asics), Jessica McClain (Brooks), Amanda Vestri (Brooks), Annie Frisbie (Puma/Minnesota Distance Elite), Bailey Hertenstein (Nike), Annie Rodenfels (Solomon), Ednah Kurgat (U.S. Army), Dakotah Popehn (Puma/Minnesota Distance Elite), and Emily Venters (Nike). Kelati, Hurley, McClain, Rodenfels, and Kurgat were just yesterday selected by USA Track & Field to represent the USA at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Copenhagen in September.
Kelati, 29, the reigning national cross country champion and North American record holder for the half-marathon, was the runner-up at the Mini last year, running a personal best 30:49. Hurley, 28, has run the Mini three times and finished in the top-10 each time. McClain, 34, the fastest-ever American at the Boston Marathon, has run the Mini twice, finishing in the top-8 both times. Vestri, 26, has run the Mini twice with great success. In 2024, she clocked a personal best 31:17 and finished fourth, and in 2025, she ran 31:20 and finished sixth.
Kelati enjoyed her battle with Obiri at last year’s Mini. “She’s a tough runner, she’s like a marathoner,” Kelati said of Obiri. She continued: “I was like, no matter what, I have to follow her. I know she has a great finish. I just had to push myself today.”
The last American to win the Mini was Sara Hall in 2021. She also won in 2019 when the race served as the USATF Championships.
The Mini also has an elite wheelchair competition. Reigning Mini champion and course record holder, Susannah Scaroni, will not be defending her title (she’s on maternity leave). As such, five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion Tatyana McFadden looks like the favorite for victory. McFadden is coming off second-place finishes at the Boston and London Marathons last month.
“I’m thrilled to return to the Mastercard New York Mini 10-K and see if I can win my first Mini title,” McFadden said through a press release. “I love the energy of a women’s only race, especially one with so much history.”
The Mini was founded in 1972 by the New York Road Runners, spearheaded by Fred Lebow and Kathrine Switzer. It was called the Crazylegs Mini Marathon (Crazylegs was a brand of women’s shaving cream). Just 72 women finished the race that year. After last year’s race, which had a record 9973 finishers, a total of 255,289 athletes had finished the Mini throughout its history. Organizers expect over 10,000 finishers this year.
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The Mastercard New York Mini 10-K is a World Athletics Label Road Race and offers prize money for the top-7 open athletes, top-5 Americans (double-dipping allowed), top-3 professional wheelchair athletes, top-3 NYRR members, and top-3 masters athletes (with NYRR membership). The race will have a FREE and LIVE broadcast featuring an all-women commentary team on WABC-TV (channel 7 in New York), ESPN+, abc7ny.com, and New York Road Runners’ YouTube channel.
Here is the full elite field for the 2026 Mastercard New York Mini 10-K with personal best times:
RUNNERS:
Agnes Ngetich, KEN, 28:46 WR (Valencia, 2024)
Klara Lukan, SLO, 29:51 AR (Laredo, 2026)
Hellen Obiri, KEN 30:15 (Manchester, 2022)
Tsigie Gebreselama, ETH, 30:29 (Paderborn, 2023)
Weini Kelati, Flagstaff, Ariz., 30:49 (Mini, 2025)
Sharon Lokedi, KEN, 30:52 (Mini, 2022)
Viola Cheptoo, KEN, 30:55 (Phoenix, 2019)
Emma Grace Hurley, Indianapolis, 31:00 (Tokyo, 2025)
Jessica McClain, Scottsdale, Ariz., 31:13 (Mesa, Ariz., 2026)
Amanda Vestri, Boone, N.C., 31:17 (Mini, 2024)
Annie Frisbie, Hopkins, Minn., 31:37 (Charleston, S.C., 2026)
Bailey Hertenstein, Boulder, Colo., 31:48 (Mini, 2025)
Annie Rodenfels, Boulder, Colo., 31:54 (Boston, 2024)
Ednah Kurgat, Colorado Springs, Colo., 31:56 (Miramar, Fla., 2025)
Dakotah Popehn, Burnsville, Minn., 31:58 (Mini, 2024)
Fionnuala McCormack (40+), IRL, 32:08 (Meath, IRL, 2022)
Emily Venters, Salt Lake City, 32:11 (Boston, 2024)
Stephanie Bruce (40+), Flagstaff, Ariz., 32:21 (Atlanta, 2018)
Tessa Barrett, Arlington, Va., 32:27+ (Philadelphia, 2026)
Rachel Smith, Flagstaff, Ariz., 32:35 (Cape Elizabeth, Maine, 2024)
Mercy Chelangat, KEN, 32:37 (Boston, 2024)
WuGa He, CHN, 33:06 (Mini, 2022)
Elena Hayday, Minneapolis, 33:30 (Boston, 2024)
Sophia King, Chesterfield, Va., 33:50 (Northport, N.Y., 2023)
Lisa Hart, GBR, 34:05 (Winter Park, Fla., 2026)
Gabi Rooker, Minneapolis, 34:11 (Charleston, S.C., 2026)
Madison Offstein, New York, 34:24 (Atlanta, 2021)
Brooke Starn, New York, 35:14 (New York City, 2024)
Alexandra Conway, New York, 35:28 (New York, 2025)
Alana Levy, New York, 35:50+ (New York, 2025)
Alosha Southern, Brooklyn, N.Y., 35:52 (Mini, 2024)
Annabel Stafford, North Grafton, Mass., 36:02 (Boston, 2025)
Stephanie Diacovo, New York, 36:19+ (Brooklyn, N.Y. 2026)
Anastasia Dmitrienko, New York, 36:20+ (Brooklyn, N.Y., 2026)
Jennifer DiMascio Donohue, Long Island City, N.Y., 36:42 (Flushing, N.Y., 2025)
Katarina Mayer, CAN, 36:51 (Flushing, N.Y., 2025)
Katarina Birimac, Bronx, N.Y., Debut
Cailie Hughes, Bloomington, Minn., Debut
Amisa Murayama, JPN, Debut
Nazuki Sasaki, JPN, Debut
Sydney Vaught, Fayetteville, Ark., Debut
WHEELCHAIR ATHLETES:
Tatyana McFadden, Baltimore, 23:14 (Atlanta, 2016)
Hannah Dederick, Champaign, Ill., 24:29 (Mini, 2025)
Linden Williamson, Boerne, Texas, 25:11 (Mini, 2025)
Michelle Wheeler, Dallas, 26:04 (Mini, 2023)
Hoda Elshorbagy, EGY, 26:09 (Mini, 2025)
Milena Sobie, Streetsboro, Ohio, 30:17 (Cedartown, Ga., 2025)
Rachel Cleaver, Beloit, Texas, 34:44 (Atlanta, 2025)
April Coughlin, New York, 35:37 (Mini, 2025)
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