![\"2025](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763917990_697_new-yt-thumbnail-5.png#.png\")
<\/p>\nThousands of runners laced up their sneakers for the 2025 Philadelphia Marathon Sunday, racing their way through Center City and Fairmount Park, across University City and Manayunk, and along the scenic Schuylkill River.<\/p>\n
But only a handful of competitors can call themselves marathon winners.<\/p>\n
Melikhaya Frans, of Gqeberha, South Africa, was the first male professional to complete the 26.2 mile race on Nov. 23. The 35-year-old crossed the finish line with a time of 2:13:57.<\/p>\n
“To come here and win the race, it means a lot to me,” Frans said. “I did this for my team at home.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
2025 Philadelphia men’s marathon winner Melikhaya Frans<\/p>\n
CBS Philadelphia<\/p>\n
The first female pro to finish was 26-year-old Anna Oeser, of Brookfield, Connecticut. Oeser ran her race \u2013 her first marathon \u2013 with a time of 2:34:55.<\/p>\n
“It was awesome,” Oeser said of the energy spectators brought to the marathon course. “Every time the crowds got a little quiet and I was like, ‘Where is everybody,’ the crowds erupted in the next 200 feet. Manayunk was insane,” she said. “It was great.”<\/p>\n
![\"Anna](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763917991_779_new-yt-thumbnail-6.png#.png\")
<\/p>\n
Anna Oeser, first woman to cross the finish line at the 2025 Philadelphia Marathon<\/p>\n
CBS Philadelphia<\/p>\n
In the men’s professional wheelchair division, 25-year-old Miguel Vergara of Chula Vista, California finished with a time of 1:44:22.<\/p>\n
Hannah Babalola, 37, of Chicago, was the first female wheelchair winner to cross the line with a time of 2:15:21.<\/p>\n