Gulveer Singh Breaks National Half-Marathon Record in New York

March 15, 2026

New Delhi, March 15: Indian distance running star Gulveer Singh shattered the men’s national half-marathon record during a competition held in New York on Sunday.

According to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the 27-year-old army runner finished third in the New York City Half Marathon with a time of 59:42. The previous national record was 1:00:30, set by steeplechase specialist Avinash Sable during the Delhi Half Marathon in 2020.

In this event, South Africa’s Adrian Wildschutt took first place with a time of 59:30, while American long-distance runner Zouhair Talbi, born in Morocco, secured second place with a time of 59:41.

Gulveer Singh has now become the first Indian distance runner to hold multiple national records, spanning from the 3,000 meters track to the 25 kilometers road race. He also holds records in the men’s 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters track races, having medaled at the Asian Games.

His performance at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 was remarkable, as he won both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters track races. This year, he is confident of securing a podium finish at both the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July and the Asian Games in September. Currently, this army runner is training in Colorado Springs, USA.

Following a recent performance evaluation, Gulveer has been included in the core group of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). Alongside him, emerging pistol shooters Samrat Rana and Suruchi Singh, as well as world champion para-shuttler Pramod Bhagat, have also been selected for this group. Last year, Gulveer improved his national record in the 10,000 meters at the ‘Ten Track Festival,’ which is part of the World Athletics Continental Tour. He achieved a time of 27:00.22 seconds, finishing sixth in San Juan Capistrano, California.

This timing was over 14 seconds better than his previous record of 27:14.88, set in November 2024 in Hachioji, Japan. Gulveer came very close to qualifying for the World Athletics Championships 2025, missing the qualification mark of 27:00.00 by just 22 milliseconds.