New York Road Runners (NYRR) has announced a star-studded pro athlete field that includes 17 Olympians and Paralympians, and multiple national record-holders representing 12 countries, for the 2025 Mastercard New York Mini 10K, which takes place on Saturday, June 7, in Central Park.
New York Road Runners originally started the Mini 10K in 1972 as the first women-only road race, known then as the Crazylegs Mini Marathon for the miniskirt, a symbol of women’s liberation.
72 women finished the first race, and three weeks later, Title IX was signed into law, guaranteeing girls and women the right to participate in school sports and creating new opportunities for generations of female athletes.
Since the first edition, the race has garnered nearly 250,000 total finishers, with 10,000 runners expected for this year’s race, alongside 1,000 youth in the accompanying Rising New York Road Runners’ Girls Run.
The 53rd running of the event will be headlined by two former TCS New York City Marathon open division champions: Kenyans Sharon Lokedi – the new 2025 Boston Marathon champion and course record-holder – and Hellen Obiri, the 2025 Boston Marathon runner-up, 2023 TCS New York City Marathon winner, and bronze medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Marathon.
Also returning to the Mastercard New York Mini 10K are two members of the 2024 US Olympic Women’s Marathon team – American marathon record holder Emily Sisson and the top American finisher at the Paris 2024 Olympic Marathon, Dakotah Popehn.
The deep American field is rounded out by Weini Kelati, Susanna Sullivan, and young stars Taylor Roe and Amanda Vestri.
Additional international stars include Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia; Yuka Ando of Japan; Argentinian Olympian Florencia Borelli; Mexican Olympian, Laura Galván; and British Olympian Rose Harvey.
Returning to headline the professional wheelchair division is Susannah Scaroni – a four-time Paralympian, six-time Paralympic medallist, defending TCS New York City Marathon champion, and 2025 Boston Marathon champion. Scaroni broke her own event record in the wheelchair division the last time she competed in 2023 and has won all five editions of the professional wheelchair division since it was added to the Mini 10K in 2018.
Scaroni will face off against Tatyana McFadden – the most-decorated American track and field athlete in Olympic and Paralympic history, and five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion – in the Mastercard New York Mini 10K for the fourth time.
In addition to the pro athlete field, the 2025 Mastercard New York Mini 10K will feature several notable runners with inspirational stories, including:
- Marilyn Bevans: an inductee in the National Black Marathoners Association’s Distance Runner Hall of Fame; and
- Julianne Grace: a ‘CrazyLeg’ – the distinction given to participants who have run the Mini 10K fifteen or more times.
Run for the Future
Launched in 2011, New York Road Runners’ Run for the Future is a free six-week program that introduces young women in high school to running – culminating in participants running their first 5K together.
As a testament to the program’s impact, more than 40 Run for the Future alumnae will participate in the 2025 Mastercard New York Mini 10K.
Girls Run
In addition to the adult 10K, 1,000 young people ages eight to 18 will participate in free races as part of the Girls Run, one of more than 20 free Rising New York Road Runners youth events the non-profit hosts during the year.
The youth event will take place at the start of the adult race on Central Park West, with kids running alongside the professional and adult participants. Participants will include members of Rising New York Road Runners, NYRR’s free running-based youth program that serves 200,000 students nationwide, with 100,000 students in New York City.
TV eye
The event will be covered locally in the Tri-State area by WABC-TV with live news cut-ins from 06:00-10:00 ET. The professional race will be covered by a livestream distributed domestically by ESPN+ and abc7ny.com, and internationally from NYRR’s YouTube channel beginning at 07:45 ET.
Reporting live from the event will be an all-women team of WABC Sports Anchor Sam Ryan and reporter Nina Pineda, US Olympians Carrie Tollefson and Alysia Montaño, and host of the ‘Ali on the Run Show’ podcast Ali Feller.
NYRR app
New York Road Runners launched a new year-round app earlier this year to enhance the race-day experience. Participants, spectators, and supporters can now use one app – the NYRR App developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – for all New York Road Runners events, including the Mastercard New York Mini 10K.
For the first time, the app will feature live, uninterrupted feeds of the Mastercard New York Mini 10K professional athlete fields, while keeping users connected with runner tracking and leaderboards, race-day information and alerts, and course maps. The NYRR App is available for download on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
