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 three-hour mark.
This improves on the personal best of 2:52:42 that Gregor set in Boston only in April 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 via Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx to Manhattan – and, with its bridge climbs, above all the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge straight after the start and the Queensboro Bridge in the second half of the race, demands particularly clever pacing.
The fact that Gregor runs his fastest time here of all places shows how well preparation, load management and race strategy now work together.
Another step towards the World Marathon Majors
Since qualifying, Gregor has been pursuing a big goal: to complete all the World Marathon Majors. With New York, the next Major is now in the bag:
- 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 consistency combined with steady progression is anything but a given in the marathon.
Crossing the line together this time
One special feature makes New York a very personal highlight for Gregor this year: he was not alone at the start line. His wife Eva Gretz also ran in New York – and finished the marathon successfully as well.
The souvenir photo of the two of them with their finisher medals really 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 applies here: a development like this is no coincidence. It comes from structured training, the continuous analysis of performance data and the targeted balancing of load and recovery – over many months.
These same principles shape our work at Datico®: health and performance are best managed when data is not looked at in isolation but brought together meaningfully and made usable for decisions.
Conclusion
With 2:51:41 hours in New York, Gregor Gretz continues his remarkable run – 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 also finished makes the success complete.
The whole Datico® team warmly congratulates Gregor and Eva. We are proud to have two such successful runners around us – and we are already looking forward to the next stops on the World Marathon Majors.
