Aaron Judge traded the batter’s box for the sidewalk on Sunday, standing among the Manhattan crowds as the New York City Marathon rolled through the city and gave the Yankees captain a very different kind of New York scene.
Wearing Yankees gear, Judge was on hand to support his wife, Samantha, as she ran the race on Nov. 1. Their daughter, Nora, was with him along the course, turning the day into a family moment that quickly made the rounds on social media.
At the corner of East 88th Street and First Avenue, Judge held Nora while waiting for Samantha to come by. Video from the scene showed him waving at runners and pointing Samantha out to his daughter. When she reached them, she paused briefly to greet her family.
Judge then used his phone to take photos of Samantha with Nora. Later images showed the three together near the finish. Samantha completed the marathon in an unofficial time of 3 hours, 29 minutes, 44 seconds.
That finish added another chapter to a family routine that has now played out in New York before. Samantha also ran the marathon in 2022, 2023 and 2025, and Judge has attended previous editions to cheer her on. This time, though, Nora’s presence gave the day a new wrinkle and produced the image that drew the most attention.
Judge and Samantha’s story goes back well before his rise as the face of the Yankees. The two met as teenagers, both attended Fresno State and married in 2021. Nora was born in January 2025.
Samantha has generally kept a lower profile than her husband, but her marathon appearances have become part of the family’s public rhythm. Sunday’s race was another example of that, with Judge showing up not as a baseball star but as a husband and father watching from the curb.
The numbers behind Samantha’s run are impressive, too. Her unofficial time works out to an average pace of roughly 4 minutes, 58 seconds per kilometer over the standard 42.195-kilometer distance. That’s a strong performance on any day, especially after stopping to say hello to her family along the way.
For Judge, the outing came during an offseason shaped by injury. He played only 66 regular-season games in 2026, hitting 18 home runs and driving in 41 runs. A stress fracture in his right rib and a later right calf strain cut into his season, and he did not appear in the postseason.
The Yankees were eliminated in the American League Division Series, leaving the organization with roster questions heading toward 2027. But on Sunday, the baseball backdrop faded for a few hours. Samantha finished the race, Nora watched from the course, and Judge got to be a proud spectator in the middle of New York City.
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