New York City Marathon in 2:51:41 – a new personal best
The next Major, the next step up
Gregor Gretz, CTO and Head of Software Development at Datico®, has done it again: at the New York City Marathon on 1 November 2026 he crossed the finish line in Central Park after 2:51:41 hours – a new personal best and once again a result well under the 3-hour mark.
This improves on the personal best he set in Boston only in April (2:52:42) by around another minute. Compared with the Berlin Marathon in September 2025 (2:59:23), he is now almost eight minutes faster – a development that is more than impressive at this level of performance.
A course that demands everything
The New York City Marathon is not a course for easy personal bests. The route runs through all five boroughs – from Staten Island through Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx to Manhattan – and its bridge climbs, above all the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge right after the start and the Queensboro Bridge in the second half, call for particularly smart pacing.
The fact that Gregor ran his fastest time on exactly this course shows how well preparation, load management and race strategy now work together.
Another step towards the World Marathon Majors
Ever since qualifying, Gregor has been pursuing a big goal: to complete all of the World Marathon Majors. New York now adds the next Major to the list:
- Berlin Marathon 2025 – 2:59:23
- Chicago Marathon 2025 – 2:55:27
- Boston Marathon 2026 – 2:52:42
- New York City Marathon 2026 – 2:51:41 (personal best)
Four Majors, four times under three hours – and faster from race to race. This combination of consistency and progression is anything but a given in the marathon.
Two finishers this time
One special detail makes this year’s New York race a very personal highlight for Gregor: he was not alone at the start line. His wife Eva Gretz ran in New York too – and also finished the marathon successfully.
The photo of the two of them with their finisher medals says it all: an unforgettable race, a shared success and an achievement both can rightly be proud of.
Performance with a system
As with the previous races, the same holds true here: a development like this is no coincidence. It comes from structured training, continuous analysis of performance data and the targeted balancing of load and recovery – over many months.
These are exactly the principles that shape our work at Datico®: health and performance are best managed when data is not viewed in isolation but meaningfully brought together and made usable for decisions.
Conclusion
With 2:51:41 hours in New York, Gregor Gretz continues his remarkable series – faster than ever before and on one of the most demanding courses of the World Marathon Majors. The fact that Eva Gretz shared this experience with him and finished as well makes the success complete.
The entire Datico® team warmly congratulates Gregor and Eva. We are proud to have two such successful runners in our circle – and look forward to the next stations of the World Marathon Majors.