NYRR Media Center

Ruti Aga won the 2019 Tokyo Marathon by 21 seconds, taking her first Abbott World Marathon Majors race title after three straight runner-up finishes between Tokyo and Berlin. Her runner-up time of 2:18:34 at the 2018 Berlin Marathon was a personal best and would have smashed the course record had Gladys Cherono not finished first in 2:18:11. Her time was good enough, however, to make her the sixth-fastest marathoner in history at the time.

Aga also finished as runner-up at the 2017 Berlin Marathon and won the 2018 Houston Half Marathon in a quick 1:06:39, which was more than a minute and a half better than her previous personal best and was – at the time – the second-fastest half marathon ever run on U.S. soil.

In 2019, Aga made her first appearance at the TCS New York City Marathon and finished in third place with a time of 2:25:51.

Aga began her marathon career when she ran the 2016 Osaka Marathon as a pacemaker. This experience gave her confidence to race the Vienna City Marathon that year. She finished a strong second in 2:25:27, making for a solid marathon debut.