NYC Marathon winner Abdi Nageeye had ‘the time of his life’ celebrating victory with strangers in New Jersey

Abdi Nageeye celebrated his marathon win at Carnegie Diner & Cafe in Jersey. Courtesy of Carnegie Diner & Cafe

Imagine winning the Super Bowl but having nobody to celebrate with. That’s kind of the situation Somali-Dutchman Abdi Nageeye found himself in after coming in first in the men’s race in Sunday’s New York City Marathon.

Fortunately, when you need to party, you can always count on Jersey.

Page Six hears that after notching a shock victory — his first major marathon win — Nageeye “didn’t have plans.” But some fellow marathon runners randomly reached out to him on Instagram and invited him to a bash in Secaucus, and he took them up on their offer.

The restaurant was packed when Nageeye arrived. Courtesy of Carnegie Diner & Cafe

“He didn’t have any plans, so he hopped into an Uber,” the source said.

The new champ ended up commemorating his victory with a restaurant full of people at Carnegie Diner & Cafe. Nageeye “walked into the packed restaurant to live music and plenty of food” at around 10.30 p.m. and stayed until 1.30 a.m., according to our source.

Nageeye made it to the finish line in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 39 seconds. Getty Images

“He had the time of his life! He… thought it was going to be a low-key moment, but he loved every minute of it,” they said.

2022 marathon champion Evans Chebet was 6 seconds behind Nageeye. John Jones-Imagn Images

Nageeye finished the 26.2 mile race around the five boroughs in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 39 seconds — six seconds ahead of 2022 marathon champion Evans Chebet. It was his first win after three previous attempts, making him the first runner from the Netherlands to ever win the men’s race. He’d previously finished third in New York Marathon, and won the silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

“When I was finishing, the emotions weren’t there in the moment, but I just couldn’t believe that I was going to win it,” Nageeye told the Associated Press after the race.

Nageeye said he couldn’t believe he was going to win. Getty Images

“I felt like I was dreaming. Most people didn’t even expect me to be in the top five, but I know what I am capable of. This was my race today,” he said.