By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2026 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW YORK (17-Mar) — When Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich ripped through the first mile of last Sunday’s United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon in four minutes and 47 seconds, Scotland’s Megan Keith took notice, but did not react. Facing the half-marathon distance for the very first time at the tender age of 23, the 2025 European Athletics Cross Country Championships silver medalist stuck firmly to her race plan.
“I normally take quite a lot of risks in my racing,” Keith told Race Results Weekly just after finishing third in 1:07:13, the fastest time ever by a British woman at this event. “Also, I’m used to racing anywhere between a mile and 10-K whether it’s on the track or cross country. So, I’m new to the roads and very new to the half-marathon. Me and my team decided I had to be sensible.”
Keith hit the 5-K mark alone in 15:39. Five women were ahead of her, and the two closest women behind her –Americans Amanda Vestri and Annie Frisbie– were 12 seconds back. Keith quickly shifted into cross country mode and started to run on feel.
“I just measured my effort which, I think, having got quite a strong cross country background, I’m used to measuring my effort without times or paces,” she explained. “I can read myself and my effort. I took my watch off and focused on it like a long cross country race.”
As she ran north on the FDR Drive towards the 10-K point, Keith was joined by Dutchwoman Diane van Es at about the six-mile mark, who had drifted back from the leaders. The two Europeans went through 10-K in 31:22 and were now ahead of Vestri and Frisbie by 45 seconds. They were on pace for a 1:06 finish time, but only on paper because the last section of the course is steeply uphill into Manhattan’s Central Park.
Sharing the work with van Es did not last long. Up ahead, eventual winner Hellen Obiri of Kenya had dropped Ngetich who had become overwhelmed by the cold (she would fade to finish 13th). The other top Africans, Ethiopian Fentaye Belayneh and Kenyan Sharon Lokedi, had dropped back and Keith began running with them. That trio hit 15-K in 47:27, on pace for a 1:06:44 finish. To her surprise, Keith was still feeling good.
“I’ve never raced further than 10-K so I was quite hesitant (to push),” Keith recalled. “At every mile that went by I was still feeling alright, and I was closing the gaps to the ladies ahead. But I only started to feel confident at about nine and a half miles. I thought I could hit the wall any minute.”
Keith didn’t mind the cold all that much, but had only her black New Balance headband to help her keep warm. Her gloves and arm warmers were in her gear bag on the way to the finish with New York Road Runners’ elite athletes staff.
“It was still pretty cold for me, but I’m used to it,” Keith said. “I still got my clothes wrong because I’m not used to sending a bag to the finish line like that. So it was in the middle of my warm-up that I realized that my arm sleeves are in the bag on the way to the finish line. I was still pretty cold (about 2C), even for a Scottish person.”
Keith matched strides with Lokedi through 20-K (1:03:41; 5 km split of 16:14), but van Es and Belayneh had fallen back. In the final kilometer Lokedi –the race’s defending champion and reigning Boston Marathon champion– put three seconds on Keith and they finished in 1:07:10 and 1:07:13, respectively. Keith’s time was only nine seconds off of Lokedi’s 2025 course record (Obiri set a new course and event record of 1:06:33).
“Dreamy way to start a road career,” Keith marveled.
Comparing Keith’s time to other performances by British women, Calli Hauger-Thackery came closest with a 1:07:49 in 2025, good for third place. The next fastest were Amy-Eloise Neale (1:08:12 in 2025/fifth place), Mara Yamauchi (1:09:25 in 2010/first place), Jo Pavey (1:09:33 in 2011/sixth place), and Paula Radcliffe (1:09:45 in 2009/first place).
Not surprisingly, Keith was pleased with her result and looks forward to more road racing. On February 22 in Castellón, Spain, she ran a European record 30:07 for 10-K, so her road career is off to a terrific start.
“I’d give myself something between a B+ and an A-,” Keith said after taking a moment to replay the race in her head. “I made good decisions, but I think I probably could have been slightly more fearless in the last 5-K.” She continued: “I knew because I was in uncharted territory I had to be really careful. It was only when I got into the park that I could push hills. I’m excited to give it another go; I’m really happy.”
PHOTO: Megan Keith finishing third at the 2026 United Airlines NYC Half (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)
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