Running News Daily

Joe Klecker Plans His Half Marathon Debut

In a live recording of The CITIUS MAG Podcast in New York City, U.S. Olympian Joe Klecker confirmed that he is training for his half marathon debut in early 2025. He did not specify which race but signs point toward the Houston Half Marathon on Jan. 19th.

“We’re kind of on this journey to the marathon,” Klecker said on the Citizens Bank Stage at the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon Expo. “The next logical step is a half marathon. That will be in the new year. We don’t know exactly where yet but we want to go attack a half marathon. That’s what all the training is focused on and that’s why it’s been so fun. Not that the training is easy but it’s the training that comes the most naturally to me.”

Klecker owns personal bests of 12:54.99 for 5000m and 27:07.57 for 10,000m. In his lone outdoor track race of 2024, he ran 27:09.29 at Sound Running’s The Ten in March and missed the Olympic qualifying standard of 27:00.00.

His training style and genes (his mother Janis competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the marathon and won two U.S. marathon national championships in her career; and his father Barney previously held the U.S. 50-mile ultramarathon record) have always linked Klecker to great marathoning potential. For this year’s TCS New York City Marathon, the New York Road Runners had Klecker riding in the men’s lead truck so he could get a front-row glimpse at the race and the course, if he chooses to make his debut there or race in the near future.

The Comeback From Injury

In late May, Klecker announced he would not be able to run at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in June due to his recovery from a torn adductor earlier in the season, which ended his hopes of qualifying for a second U.S. Olympic team. He spent much of April cross training and running on the Boost microgravity treadmill at a lower percentage of his body weight.

“The process of coming back has been so smooth,” Klecker says. “A lot of that is just because it’s been all at the pace of my health. I haven’t been thinking like, ‘Oh I need to be at this level of fitness in two weeks to be on track for my goals.’ If my body is ready to go, we’re going to keep progressing. If it’s not ready to go, we’re going to pull back a little bit. That approach is what helped me get through this injury.”

One More Track Season

Klecker is not fully prepared to bid adieu to the track. He plans to chase the qualifying standard for the 10,000 meters and attempt to qualify for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. In 2022, after World Athletics announced Tokyo as the 2025 host city, he told coach Dathan Ritzenhein that he wanted the opportunity to race at Japan National Stadium with full crowds.

“I’m so happy with what I’ve done on the track that if I can make one more team, I’ll be so happy,” Klecker says. “Doing four more years of this training, I don’t know if I can stay healthy to be at the level I want to be. One more team on the track would just be like a dream.”

Klecker is also considering doubling up with global championships and could look to qualify for the 2025 World Road Running Championships, which will be held Sept. 26th to 28th in San Diego. To make the team, Klecker would have to race at the Atlanta Half Marathon on Sunday, March 2nd, which also serves as the U.S. Half Marathon Championships. The top three men and women will qualify for Worlds. One spot on Team USA will be offered via World Ranking.

Sound Running’s The Ten, one of the few fast opportunities to chase the 10,000m qualifying standard on the track, will be held on March 29th in San Juan Capistrano.

Thoughts on Ryan Hall’s American Record

The American record in the half marathon remains Ryan Hall’s 59:43 set in Houston on Jan. 14th, 2007. Two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp (59:47 at the 2018 Prague Half) and two-time U.S. Olympian Leonard Korir (59:52 at the 2017 New Dehli Half) are the only other Americans to break 60 minutes.

In the last three years, only Biya Simbassa (60:37 at the 2022 Valencia Half), Kirubel Erassa (60:44 at the 2022 Houston Half), Diego Estrada (60:49 at the 2024 Houston Half) and Conner Mantz (60:55 at the 2021 USATF Half Marathon Championships) have even dipped under 61 minutes.

On a global scale, Nineteen of the top 20 times half marathon performances in history have come since the pandemic. They have all been run by athletes from Kenyan, Uganda, and Ethiopia, who have gone to races in Valencia (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Ras Al Khaimah (UAE), or Copenhagen (Denmark), and the top Americans tend to pass on those races due to a lack of appearance fees or a stronger focus on domestic fall marathons.

Houston in January may be the fastest opportunity for a half marathon outside of the track season, which can run from March to September for 10,000m specialists.

“I think the record has stood for so long because it is such a fast record but we’re seeing these times drop like crazy,” Klecker says. “I think it’s a matter of time before it goes. Dathan (Ritzenhein) has run 60:00 so he has a pretty good barometer of what it takes to be in that fitness. Listening to him has been really good to let me know if that’s a realistic possibility and I think it is. That’s a goal of mine. I’m not there right now but I’m not racing a half marathon until the new year. I think we can get there to attempt it. A lot has to go right to get a record like that but just the idea of going for it is so motivating in training.”

His teammate, training partner, and Olympic marathon bronze medalist Hellen Obiri has full confidence in Klecker’s potential.

“He has been so amazing for training,” Obiri said in the days leading up to her runner-up finish at the New York City Marathon. “I think he can do the American record.”

(11/12/2024) Views: 124 ⚡AMP
by Chris Chavez

Ethiopians Jemal Yimer (60:42) and Sutume Kebede (64:37) won the overall titles in Houston Half

In what is becoming an annual tradition, Weini Kelati ran 66:25 on Sunday to break the American record at the 2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon. It was the third straight year the record was broken in Houston as the 27-year-old Kelati, making her half marathon debut, followed in the footsteps of Sara Hall (67:15 in 2022) and Emily Sisson (66:52 in 2023) to become a record-breaker in Houston. Sunday marked the third time the record had been broken in the past year as Keira D’Amatolowered Sisson’s record to 66:39 at the Asics Half Marathon in Australia in July.

Kelati finished 4th overall as Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede, a late addition to the women’s field, upset Hellen Obiri to win in 64:37, a US all-comers record that moves her into a tie for 9th on the all-time list. The time was a pb of more than three minutes for Kebede, who was previously best known for finishing 3rd at the 2020 Tokyo Marathon and running 2:18:12 at the 2022 Seoul Marathon. Obiri, who was with Kebede through 10k (30:28) faded over the second half and wound up a distant 2nd in 66:07.

The men’s race came down to a five-man sprint finish with Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer, who won in Houston in 2020 and was 4th at the World Half Marathon Championships in October, prevailing in 60:42. Wesley Kiptoo of NAZ Elite and Kenya was 2nd for the second straight year in 60:43 with 2022 champ Milkesa Mengeshaof Ethiopia 3rd in 60:45.

Biya Simbassa was the top American man in 60:45 in 4th, just ahead of a resurgent Diego Estrada, who led for the first 20 minutes and finished 5th in a pb of 60:49. Galen Rupp, tuning up for the Olympic Marathon Trials three weeks from now, hung back from the leaders and finished 14th in 62:37.

In the Chevron Houston Marathon, contested simultaneously, former NAIA star Zouhair Talbi of Morocco won the men’s race in 2:06:39 to boost his chances of Olympic selection. 2016 NCAA XC champion Patrick Tiernan, now training as part of Alistair and Amy Cragg’s Puma Elite Running team in North Carolina, was 4th in 2:07:45, hitting the Olympic standard and moving to #2 on the all-time Australian marathon list.

Ethiopia’s Rahma Tusa, the runner-up behind American Betsy Saina in September’s Sydney Marathon, won the women’s marathon in Houston in 2:19:33.

The races featured temperatures in the low 40s with 10 mph winds and gusts up to 17 mph, which made for a challenging end to the half marathon as miles 9, 10, and 11 were run directly into the teeth of the wind.

Below, six takeaways from the day’s racing in Houston.

2024 Houston Half Marathon men’s top 51. 60:42 Jemal Yimer, Ethiopia2. 60:43 Wesley Kiptoo, Kenya3. 60:45 Milkesa Mengesha, Ethiopia4. 60:45 Biya Simbassa, USA5. 60:49 Diego Estrada, USA14. 62:37 Galen Rupp, USA

2024 Houston Half Marathon women’s top 51. 64:37 Sutume Kebede, Ethiopia2. 66:07 Hellen Obiri, Kenya3. 66:24 Buze Diriba, Ethiopia4. 66:25 AR Weini Kelati, USA5. 67:36 Mestawut Fikir, Ethiopia

(01/14/2024) Views: 541 ⚡AMP
by Jonathan Gault (Let’s Run)

Moh Ahmed withdraws from Houston Half Marathon due to hamstring injury

Moh Ahmed’s debut in the half-marathon will have to wait. He has withdrawn from this Sunday’s Aramco Houston Half Marathon after suffering a hamstring injury in his final tune-up workout.

“I am regretfully withdrawing from the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. In my final tune-up workout on Wednesday, I tweaked my hamstring/hip flexor a bit, such that my coach, Jerry Schumacher, and I felt it would be unwise to line up on Sunday,” said Ahmed in a statement Thursday.

Ahmed’s half-marathon debut was highly anticipated, given his Canadian records in the 5,000m and 10,000m on the track. He is the only Canadian distance runner to have medalled in the men’s 5,000m event at an Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020).

“After a great few months of training, I was really looking forward to testing myself over the streets of Houston against a great field, but it will have to wait until next year,” said Ahmed. Outside of a few local road races and winning the Canadian men’s 10K title last year, he has not raced the 21.1 or 42.2 km distance.

Rory Linkletter will be the lone Canadian athlete in the men’s elite half-marathon field. Linkletter is racing in Houston in preparation for the Sevilla Marathon on Feb. 18, aiming for the Olympic standard of 2:08:10. His personal best of 61:08 was set at this race in 2022 (a Canadian national record at the time). Ljnkletter’s PB is only 50 seconds behind the Canadian half marathon record of 60:18 held by Cam Levins.

Despite Ahmed’s withdrawal, there will still be a large Canadian presence in Houston. Four athletes will be chasing their Olympic dreams in the marathon. Leslie Sexton, 2016 Olympian Lanni Marchant, and Canadian marathon record holder Natasha Wodak will all have their goals on the women’s Olympic standard of 2:26:50, with two spots still open for Paris 2024.

On the men’s side, Tristan Woodfine from Cobden, Ont, returns to the marathon looking to break his personal best of 2:10:51, set three years ago at the London Marathon. The men’s Olympic standard for Paris is 2:08:10.

(01/12/2024) Views: 471 ⚡AMP
by Marley Dickinson

Galen Rupp set to Run Houston Half

Earlier today, the organizers of the Aramco Houston Half Marathon sent out a press release that they’ve secured two big names for their upcoming race, which takes place on January 14 (press release appears below this article). Hellen Obiri of Kenya, the reigning Boston and NYC Marathon champ, will headline the women’s field while American star Galen Rupp will be in the men’s field. It will be both runners’ first appearances in the Houston Half.

With Rupp entered, it’s possible all of the drama of how many spots will the US men get for the Olympic marathon could finally, officially come to an end. LetsRun.com has calculated that if Rupp runs 60:47 or faster in Houston, he will vault up to #64 on to the Road To Paris list (assuming nothing changes on the list before then — the Dubai Marathon is January 7). If Rupp holds that position until January 30, the US would be guaranteed three men’s Olympic marathon participants when the US Olympic Trials take place on February 3 in Orlando.

They wouldn’t need to wait until April 30, when spots #65-80 on the Road to Paris become eligible for the Olympics.

If Rupp runs faster than 60:02 in Houston, he’d move up to #63 on the current Road To Paris list.

Rupp likely wouldn’t need to run 60:47 to move up to #64 as there are bonus points awarded for a top-6 finish. The Houston Half is considered to be a Category B race so there are 10 points for 1st, 7 for 2nd, then 5-3-2-1 for places three through six. At Rupp’s level, one bonus point is worth roughly 1.5 seconds in the half marathon (10 bonus points is 15 seconds).

For example, if Rupp was second in 60:58, it would be the equivalent of running 60:47 with no bonus points. Last year, however, 60:58 was third in Houston, and in that case Rupp would be ranked #65 on the current rankings.

Elite athlete headliners look to be one for the record books even before the race begins

(12/22/2023) Views: 494 ⚡AMP
by Robert Johnson

Hellen Obiri confirms next race as she gears up for the Olympic Games

Hellen Obiri has announced her next assignment as she prepares for the Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Reigning New York City Marathon champion Hellen Obiri has been confirmed for the Houston Half Marathon in January 14, 2024.

The race organizers made the announcement on Friday, December 22, explaining that Obiri and two-time Olympic Games medalist Galen Rupp will headline the elite fields.

Obiri will be hoping to make the cut to the Olympic team for Kenya and make an impact and with enough preparations, she is sure of a medal.

She has expressed her interest in winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games and she might stun the world in Paris, France.

During the announcement, Obiri said: "I want to run the marathon at the Olympics in Paris so to run some half marathons is an important part of my preparations."

Obiri has enjoyed a glamorous 2023 season, winning all the two marathons she competed in. The two-time World 5000m champion started the season with a win at the Boston Marathon and completed her season with victory at the New York City Marathon.

She also competed at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon and the United Airlines New York City Half Marathon and won the two races.

On his part, Rupp will be hoping to test himself ahead of the Olympic trials. "The focus is on the trials and making the Olympic team but with Houston being three weeks out I see it as the perfect opportunity to test myself and just make sure I am on track to where I want to be,” he said.

(12/22/2023) Views: 452 ⚡AMP
by Abigael Wafula

Emily Sisson sets a new half marathon American record in Houston

Emily Sisson shattered her own American record in the half marathon by finishing in 1:06:52. She is now the first American woman to break the 1:07 barrier after placing second behind race winner Hiwot Gebremaryam of Ethiopia, who ran 1:06:28.

Ethiopian Leul Gebresilase Aleme won the men’s half in a sprint finish. He ran 1:00:34—less than a second ahead of runner-up Wesley Kiptoo of Kenya.

Emily Sisson Re-Breaks Her Own American Record

Sisson improved on her record the hard way by going out fast, slowing down slightly through the last sections, and kicking it in towards the finish. After Gebremaryam broke the race open in the first few miles—by 5K, she was already 17 seconds ahead of the chase pack—Sisson ran with Jessica Warner-Judd of Great Britain through 15K. The American record-holder averaged 5-minute mile pace through the first 5K but struggled in the latter half of the course, clocking 5:12 miles around 20K.

“I went out a little too fast the first 5K or so, so the last few miles I was definitely feeling it,” Sisson said on the ABC 13 broadcast.

But Sisson pushed through the discomfort as she neared the finish line to make history once again. “I’m really excited about it. I really wanted to break 67 minutes and I’m happy I did,” she said. “I actually think I could have run a little more evenly so I’m already hoping to run another half and even try to run faster.”

Sisson broke the American record for the first time in May 2022 at the USATF Half Marathon Road Championships in Indianapolis. The Providence College alum won the national title in 1:07:11, four seconds faster than the previous American record set by Sara Hall less than four months earlier at the 2022 Houston Half Marathon.

Prior to the U.S. championships, Sisson came extremely close to the mark on two occasions. When the record was 1:07:25 (held by her former training partner Molly Huddle), she ran 1:07:30 in 2019 and 1:07:26 in 2020.

Last year, the momentum continued in a big way for Sisson when she broke the American record in the marathon. In October, she demolished the time by running 2:18:29 in Chicago—lowering the previous record set by Keira D’Amato at the 2022 Houston Marathon by 43 seconds.

Close Finish in the Men’s Half Marathon

The men’s half marathon featured one of the most exciting finishes of the day. After pulling away from the chase pack together with a few miles remaining, Aleme and Kiptoo battled down to the wire. The East African competitors fought through the homestretch—where Kiptoo kept looking back to assess the distance between himself and his rival—until Aleme sprinted ahead at the last second to claim the victory.

Aleme’s performance follows a breakthrough season, which included a runner-up finish at the 2022 London Marathon in October.

Conner Mantz was the first American to finish after placing sixth in 1:01:12.

Past Greats Return to Racing, While Familiar Faces Make Debuts

In addition to Sisson’s record, there were several other notable performances in the Houston women’s half marathon, including Huddle in her postpartum return to competitive racing. The previous American record-holder finished fifth in 1:10:01 almost nine months after welcoming her daughter. In her 13.1 debut, former 1500-meter specialist and Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Simpson placed ninth in 1:10:35. Also making her debut, Vanessa Fraser finished 13th in 1:11:00. All three had room to spare in achieving the standard to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

Three-time Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba also made her highly anticipated return. In the Ethiopian's first race in four years, she finished 16th in 1:11:35.

(01/15/2023) Views: 1,177 ⚡AMP
by Runners World

Track legend Jenny Simpson puts her most challenging year behind her as she turns to the roads in 2023

After a year in which her world was turned upside down, the track legend has a new sponsor and new event as she makes her half marathon debut in Houston on Sunday.

As the Marshall Fire approached her house on December 30, 2021, there was a brief moment where Jenny Simpson thought to herself, I can’t believe I’m doing this. The house Simpson shares with her husband Jason was formerly a schoolhouse, built in 1900 and located in Marshall, Colo., 15 minutes southeast of Boulder. And on that day, it was under threat from what would eventually become the most destructive fire in state history.

The fire, spread by wind gusts of over 100 miles per hour, was moving quickly. As thick smoke enveloped their property, choking their lungs and blocking their vision, the Simpsons prepared for the worst. Trying to limit the burn, they watered down the yard with hoses, inadvertently soaking their clothes as the wind blew the spray everywhere. Then, as the flames moved in, Simpson took one last lap around the house, grabbing their laptops, their Jack Russell terrier Truman, and a bag containing her running medals and memorabilia — one she had assembled a month earlier while being interviewed for a documentary and fortunately had yet to unpack.

Simpson, like many of us, had previously had that conversation about the one thing you would grab if your house was burning down. She had always answered with her Bible, handed down to her from her great-grandmother Genevieve Schermerhorn (“Grandma Jenny”), for whom she was named. So, as she grabbed the Bible from her office and dashed out of the house, it hit her: I think I’m grabbing the thing that you get because we might lose everything.

By the time Simpson made it to her car, she no longer knew where Jason was or whether he would make it back to the car — the smoke was so dense, it was difficult to see. He eventually made it and they sped away from their house, not knowing when they would return — or if the house would still be there when they did.

Over the course of two days, Marshall Fire would ultimately burn over 6,000 acres, destroy over 1,000 buildings, and cause over $500 million in property damage, making it the most destructive fire in Colorado history. It was a traumatic event for Simpson and her community.

Though the Simpsons’ home survived the fire, it sustained damage, forcing them to live elsewhere while it was repaired. They bounced around from a hotel to the spare bedroom of some friends from church to, eventually, a sparse apartment near the University of Colorado campus, living out of a backpack with the few things they had managed to grab from their home before the fire hit.

“It’s hard to describe how stressful that time was,” Simpson says.

On top of that, Simpson was working through a sports hernia and stress reaction in her right hip — the most significant injury of her career — and her professional future was less certain than ever. During the 2010s, few athletes were more consistent and dependable than Simpson. From 2007 through 2019, Simpson made all nine World/Olympic teams for the United States, piling up 11 national titles, three World Championship medals, and an Olympic bronze in 2016. That success led to a series of lucrative contracts from her sponsor, New Balance, and, as a highly-ranked athlete, health insurance from USOPC.

But Simpson’s New Balance contract expired at the end of 2021 — just two days after the fire that displaced her from her home. On January 1, she lost her health insurance coverage from USOPC (to qualify for coverage, an athlete had to have medalled at either the 2019 Worlds or 2021 Olympics, finished in the top 12 at the 2021 Olympics, or finished the season ranked in the top 15 in the world in their event; Simpson no longer met any of the criteria). As 2022 began, she still had Jason, and she still had the support of her longtime coaches, Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs. But the other constants in her life suddenly weren’t so constant.

“This last year, I felt more vulnerable than ever,” Simpson says. “The major safety nets in my life have been being a top-performing athlete and being in the tier system and in the USATF system, being a New Balance athlete and knowing I have a future there and my security at home. And my health. All of those things were really wobbly and testy and some of them fell apart in the last year.”

Rebuilding and replacing

One year has passed since the fire that upended Simpson’s world. Some elements of her life have been rebuilt, others replaced. The Simpsons moved back into their house in Marshall on April 1, and after months of work, she says it is 100% back to normal. Her body is also back to full health. That too required months of work.

Simpson had felt pain in her hip area during the fall of 2021 and though she didn’t give it much thought initially, it grew into something that significantly disrupted her training. Even as 2022 began, she remained in denial. After her streak of making teams ended at the 2021 Olympic Trials, Simpson knew she couldn’t afford to miss time if she was to return to her best.

“Pushing through cross training, pushing through the life challenges that we were going through, I definitely made my circumstances a lot worse,” Simpson says. “And I don’t think that’s unusual for runners. That’s kind of in our nature.”

Simpson was determined to avoid surgery, but realized such a path would require a more conservative approach. As winter turned to spring, Simpson, reluctantly, began to back off the intensity to allow her body to heal.

“The toughest thing about having a sports hernia injury and choosing to rehab and go that route and not jump straight into surgery is that it’s just slow,” Simpson says. “And none of us that are athletes, I think in particular runners, want to take anything slow.”

Simpson did not race at all last spring or summer, missing USAs for the first time since 2006 and missing the chance to represent the US at the first World Championships held on American soil. Simpson is now healthy again, but she’s still rebuilding the fitness she lost in 2022.

Another pillar of Simpson’s life — her New Balance contract — had to be replaced rather than rebuilt. Simpson did not want to go into specifics, but says that while New Balance verbally offered her a deal at a reduced level from her previous contract, the two sides ultimately could not reach an agreement. Eventually, Simpson, who had not used an agent since 2014, hired Hawi Keflezighi to negotiate a new deal and announced a sponsorship agreement with Puma in October.

Leaving New Balance behind was painful. Simpson signed with the company coming out of the University of Colorado in 2010, and after 12 years together had envisioned staying with the brand in some fashion for the rest of her life. Seconds after crossing the finish line in 10th in the 2021 Olympic Trials 1500, Simpson looked at the scoreboard and saw that Elle St. Pierre, Cory McGee, and Heather MacLean — all New Balance athletes — had gone 1-2-3 to make the team; Simpson was the first to congratulate them. She figured that, even once her racing days were over, there would still be some sort of role for her at New Balance.

“My whole future in sport and beyond was about how can I take what I’m learning in my career and make that in any possible way benefit the women’s team in the future,” Simpson says. “So seeing that [1-2-3 at the Trials] and knowing there was a strong middle distance future here and how can I continue to pour into that, that’s what I thought my future was.”

A move to the roads and a new beginning

For the first decade of her professional career, Simpson’s running life was fairly straightforward. She was consistently one of the best in the world in her event, meaning she could enter any race she wanted and was always in-demand from her sponsor (two of the reasons she went without an agent for so long). Every year since rejoining Wetmore and Burroughs in 2013 (she was coached by Juli Benson from 2010-12), she would sit down with them and figure out how to be at her best in the biggest race of the year, either the World Championship or Olympic final. More often than not, she succeeded.

But after failing to make the Olympic team in 2021, Simpson began to ponder her athletic mortality. She was nearing her 35th birthday and had a few options if she wanted to stay in the sport.

“The biggest consideration was, do I move up to the 5k, do I try to run a great 10k, or do we do something totally different?” Simpson says.

(LetsRun founder Robert Johnson will be devastated to learn Simpson did not mention the steeplechase, the event in which she won two US titles and set the American record in 2009).

Simpson dipped her toes into Option C by running the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in September 2021 (she finished 2nd in 52:16). Midway through 2022, she had fully committed to the roads.

“It’s always been part of the plan that I would give the roads some good years of my career,” says Simpson. “And I think I just saw those really good years becoming fewer and fewer and I realistically wanted to make the transition before I was so, not just physically tired, but also just emotionally drained and psychologically drained from the intensity of it.”

The last few years, Simpson carved out a niche as a mentor to some of the up-and-coming athletes in the Colorado program. As a volunteer assistant at CU, Simpson was able to watch runners like Dani Jones and Sage Hurta at practice, then aid their transition to the professional ranks by traversing the circuit alongside them as a competitor/friend. With Simpson’s move to the roads, that period of her career is over.

“I think that’s what I’ll miss the most, is feeling like I get to be a little bit of a mother hen for the [Colorado] women that are doing really well and have a future as a pro in the sport,” Simpson says.

Now, Simpson is heading into the unknown. The training, obviously, is different. Though Simpson ran relatively high mileage for a 1500 runner — it was not uncommon for her to hit 80 miles in a week — she is now running 80+ regularly, doubling up to five times per week. During her track career, a long workout for Simpson would consist of 12 or 14 by 400m. Now she’s running 2k and 3k repeats on the track.

“That’s a long way to go for someone like me,” Simpson says. “…You go out on the first lap or two and you think, Are you kidding me? This is it? But it doesn’t stay easy for very long.”

Simpson has also had to educate herself about the road races themselves. When we first spoke for this story in November, Simpson admitted that, outside of the World Marathon Majors, she didn’t know many of the major road races and was still learning about how they stacked up against each other in terms of prestige.

Part of that is due to how the sport is structured. Track is simple: Worlds or the Olympics is the end goal and the rest of the season is built around that. The roads are different — people reach top fitness at different times. For marathoners, it’s fairly intuitive — pick one race to peak for in the spring and one in the fall. But Simpson isn’t a marathoner (yet). For road racers at shorter distances, it’s more choose-your-own-adventure.

Simpson’s plan: sit down with Wetmore and Burroughs, pick a race to gear that year’s training around, and attack it like they would a World Championship or Olympics.

“Even though it’s not to the world a big World Championships, it will be Mark and Heather and Jenny’s World Championships,” Simpson says.

As for the marathon, Simpson would not commit to running one eventually, but did not rule it out either. She watched Jason, after years of grinding, finally qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials at CIM in 2018 and knows how difficult the event is. She has no desire to rush into one.

“It is really freaking hard,” Simpson says. “You don’t know for sure that your body is suited for it just because you’ve been a good runner…What it will take for me to run a marathon? If I have a great half and I feel like my body’s handling that workload really well, we’ll absolutely do a marathon. Because at that point, you’ve gotta find out, right?”

Next stop: Houston

The big question hanging over all this: will Jenny Simpson be any good on the roads? It’s no certainty that prime Simpson, the one who won a record eight Fifth Avenue Miles, would have been a force over 10k and beyond, much less the 36-year-old version coming off the most disruptive injury of her career.

Thirty-six is not necessarily old by distance standards, though. Last year, Keira D’Amato broke the American marathon record at 37 and Sara Hall broke the American half marathon record at 38. Like Simpson, both were for a time milers on the track before moving up — though it took each several years before their big breakthrough.

After down years in 2021 and 2022, logic says Simpson could have a tough go of things. The bar for success, certainly, will have to be recalibrated. At her best on the track, Simpson was one of the top three women in the world in her event. That level of accomplishment is virtually impossible for her on the roads, but could she become one of the best in the US in the 10k, half, or marathon?

Her road debut at Cherry Blossom in 2021 was auspicious (2nd place, 52:16), her appearance at last fall’s USATF 5K champs in New York less so (she was 17th in 16:07, 39 seconds behind winner Weini Kelati) — though Simpson wasn’t fully fit in New York and knew that going in.

2023 will be the real test of whether Simpson has anything left to give on the roads. And for Simpson, 2023 begins in Houston, where she will make her half marathon debut on Sunday. There is a lot riding on the outcome, which is how Simpson likes it. She has yet to pick that one race that she will plan her 2023 season around; Houston will help her make that decision.

“This will kind of chart my course of whether we stick with the half marathon, whether I start dreaming about a marathon, or whether I say maybe it’s better for me to get back on the track, spike up, and do some faster stuff over the next year,” Simpson says.

Simpson says that while her training has gone well, the adjustment to training for the half marathon has been more challenging than she expected.

“When I ran Cherry Blossom and I ran 5:14/mile pace the whole way, the idea of running 5:10’s for a half marathon (67:43 pace) seemed right around the corner,” Simpson says. “Now having gone through a year of injury and a lot of other life challenges, I’m having to adjust what I think my half marathon debut is going to look like.”

Simpson will have Jason with her as a pacer on Sunday and said they will plan to go out faster than her pace at the Army 10-Miler in October, a race she won in 54:16 (71:08 half marathon pace). She says she has a time goal in mind but elected not to share it. Her main hope is that she can finish the race well. During her track career, Simpson was famous for her strength in the final 100 meters, but in her last two road races, she felt as if she was holding on for dear life at the end.

Simpson will step to the line on Sunday with an uncertainty that did not exist during her track career. When Simpson started a 1500-meter race, she came armed with knowledge gleaned from years of experience. She knew exactly what sort of time she could expect her workouts to translate to and how to respond tactically to every race scenario. In the half marathon, she’s starting over.

“That’s one of the trepidations of going into the race in Houston is that I’m so used to having such a clear idea of what I am capable of,” Simpson says. “My race in Houston will be as much of a discovery as the training has been.”

Even Simpson admits she doesn’t know how many more years she’ll continue to race professionally. A few years ago, she had scripted out a storybook ending for herself: a fourth Olympic team in Tokyo and a home World Championships in front of friends and family in Eugene. Make those two teams, she thought, and she would have total freedom to do whatever she wanted afterwards, whether it was continuing to race on the roads, pursuing a coaching career, or starting a family.

That, of course, did not happen. In professional sports, endings rarely go according to plan. But Simpson is embracing the adventure that comes with her new path, wherever it leads.

“The idea I had in mind was kind of cool, but there are some things that we’re now looking forward to that I couldn’t have even imagined,” Simpson says. “And if it turns out that way, it will end even better.”

(01/12/2023) Views: 1,232 ⚡AMP
by Jonathan Gault

Edward Cheserek to battle Shura Kitata in Houston Half Marathon

Kenya’s Edward Cheserek will be the star to watch at the 51st edition of the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon that will be held on January 15, 2023 in Houston, Texas, United States.

The 28 year-old comes to this race with the fourth fastest time on paper of 1:00.03 that he got last year in Valencia Half marathon, comes to this race with the fourth fastest time on paper.

After Valencia last fall, I’ve trained harder and I think sub-60 is possible. Houston is known for being a fast course and I want to have a chance with a personal best,” said Cheserek.

Cheserek who is the the 17-time NCAA champion, will battle the 2020 London Marathon champion, Shura Kitata who comes to this race with a life time best of 59:47 that he got at this same event in the same year.

The two will have to get past the 2015 All-African Games Silver medalist, Leul Gebresilase who comes to this race with the fastest time on paper of 59:18 that he got at the 2017 Valencia Half Marathon, where he took the silver medal and the 2018 Mediterranean Games half marathon champion, Mohamed El Aaraby who also comes with a personal best of 59:54 that he got last year at the Meta Time Trials By Asics.

The race organizers have assembled this deep field to chase the race course record of 59:22 that was set ten years ago by the 2016 Rio Olympics marathon silver medalist, Feyisa Lilesa from Ethiopia.

(01/06/2023) Views: 898 ⚡AMP
by John Vaselyne

Emily Sisson, Conner Mantz, Jenny Simpson, Tirunesh Dibaba Headline 2023 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

The Houston Marathon Committee announced today the elite athletes who will chase the $10,000 first-place prize in this historically fast race. Elite fields for the Chevron Houston Marathon which is held simultaneously on Sunday, January 15, will be announced tomorrow.

American records in the half marathon and marathon were set in Houston last year, but by the end of 2022, Emily Sisson had broken them both. Houston will be Sisson’s first race since running 2:18:29 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October, shattering Keira D’Amato’s record by 43 seconds. Earlier in the year, her 1:07:11 performance in Indianapolis shaved four seconds off Sara Hall’s half marathon record.

“I have really enjoyed racing here in the past and am excited to start my 2023 season in Houston,” said Sisson who finished fifth in the 2019 Aramco Houston Half Marathon. “I felt good coming out of Chicago and am really looking forward to another opportunity to race.”

Sisson will have to contend with one of the greatest distance runners of all time as Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia makes a return to competition after a more than four-year hiatus. The three-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion has not raced since 2018 but says after giving birth to a second child in 2019 and then battling COVID-19, she is ready to add another chapter to her storied career.

“Houston is a famous race and my training has been going well,” said Dibaba, the 2017 Chicago Marathon Champion. “It seemed like the best way to test myself and see what could be next.”

Other top contenders in the women’s half marathon elite field include 2021 Berlin Marathon runner-up Hiwot Gebrekidan of Ethiopia and 2022 World Championship Marathon fourth-place finisher Nazret Weldu of Eritrea. Dom Scott will attempt to break the South African half marathon record of 1:06:44, after a 3rd place finish in Houston last year. The top Americans include 28-time U.S. Champion Molly Huddle who set the then-American record here in 2018, as well as World Champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist Jenny Simpson who will make her half marathon debut.

“All of the racers I am learning from speak so highly of their experience with the Aramco Houston Half Marathon,” said Simpson. “It’s the perfect place for me to make my half marathon debut because the timing, course and organization are so well tested.”

In the men’s race, Edward Cheserek of Kenya, known to fans as “King Ches,” will look to trade in his crown for a king-sized belt buckle. Cheserek is coming off a 1:00:13 half marathon personal best in Valencia last month. “After Valencia this fall, I’ve trained harder and think sub-60 is possible,” said Cheserek, a 17-time NCAA Champion at the University of Oregon. “Houston is known for being a fast course and I want to have a chance at a personal best.”

Cheserek will face off against 2019 champion Shura Kitata of Ethiopia who lines up for his fourth Aramco Houston Half Marathon. With career marathon victories in London, Frankfurt and Rome, Kitata says he “feels home and comfortable in Houston.”

Other contenders to watch are Ethiopia’s Leul Gebresilase Aleme, runner up at last year’s London Marathon, and 2020 Olympian Mohamed El Aaraby of Morocco. The top American in the field is Conner Mantz of Utah. Mantz, the 2020 and 2021 NCAA Cross Country Champion at BYU, made his much-anticipated marathon debut in Chicago last October running 2:08:16, the fastest debut ever by an American-born runner.

Houston-native Frank Lara will return for a second consecutive year. Lara, a former Gatorade Texas High School Runner of the Year, was the top American finisher in the marathon last year. This year he competes in the half marathon.

The HMC is the only organizer to host two World Athletic Gold Label events simultaneously, which are Sunday’s Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon. These two races will have over 27,000 registrants, with an additional 6,000 registrants in the We Are Houston 5K presented by Aramco and Chevron, held on Saturday, January 14.

“Whether you are an elite athlete or a new runner, our committee is dedicated to hosting your individual pursuits with the utmost care and respect for the extraordinary efforts made to toe the start line with us,” said Wade Morehead, Executive Director of the Houston Marathon Committee.

The Aramco Houston Half Marathon and Chevron Houston Marathon will be broadcast on ABC13 from 7 a.m.-10 a.m., on Sunday, January 15 with a race day recap at 10:35 p.m. Joining ABC13’s Greg Bailey and Gina Gaston as expert commentator will be Des Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon winner and 50K world-record holder. Linden made the first of her two U.S. Olympic Marathon teams in Houston in 2012. The trio will be joined by long-time analyst and Rice University cross country coach Jon Warren.

(01/04/2023) Views: 899 ⚡AMP
by Letsrun

Kenyan Jhon Korir sets target ahead of next year's Houston Half Marathon

Houston Half Marathon runners-up John Korir is determined to lower his personal best in the Armaco Houston Half Marathon scheduled for January 15 next year.

Korir clocked 1:00:27 at this year's race, behind winner Milkesa Tolosa of Ethiopia, who timed 1:00:24.

“My target is to run sub-1 hour as I also chase the top spot,” said Korir.

Korir said the weather in Houston was a major setback towards his quest for the title and is hopeful of better conditions this time around.

"I'm hopeful of a good performance now that I know what to expect in Houston in terms of the weather," he said.  

Korir, who trains in Eldoret, said he has achieved his targets during his sessions and all that is left is to translate this onto a competitive situation.

“I have been working on my fitness as well as speed training. I feel I have made some progress compared to when I started my training,” Korir said, adding that the weather conditions at his training base have favoured him.

“I do not like training during hot seasons since I am allergic to dust and may likely contract an infection,” added the two-time Los Angeles Marathon winner.

He won the American race in 2021 and 2022, clocking respective  times of 2:12:49 and 2:09:08.

In his Chicago Marathon debut this year, Korir timed 2:05:01 for third, behind winner Benson Kipruto (2:04:24) and Ethiopia's Seifa Tura (2:04:49).

Korir, who looks up to his elder brother — former Boston Marathon champion Wesley Korir — revealed he developed his interest in running when he was in Class Three.

Wesley, an Olympian and former Cherangany Constituency Member of Parliament, won the 2012 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:12:40.

In conclusion, Korir said his target is to break into the top-three in world marathon running in the next five years.

(12/02/2022) Views: 803 ⚡AMP
by Cynthia LChepkurui

Rory Linkletter breaks the Canadian half-marathon record at Houston, Linkletter ran 1:01:08 for eighth place

The Houston Half-Marathon took place Sunday morning as part of the Houston Marathon weekend, and Rory Linkletter lowered Jeff Schiebler’s 23-year-old Canadian half-marathon record of 61:28, crossing the finish line in 61:08 for eighth place. His compatriot, Ben Flanagan, was only half a minute behind him, finishing 12th in 61:38.

Going into the race, both athletes had their eyes on Schiebler’s record, which hasn’t been touched in more than two decades. Linkletter recently left the NAZ Elite track club to train with American Marathon record-holder, Ryan Hall, citing stagnation in training as his reason for making the change. His decision seems to have paid off, and he ran a huge PB Sunday morning to become the new Canadian record-holder. The 25-year-old’s previous record of 61:44 was also run on the Houston course just last year.

Linkletter has enjoyed plenty of success lately, and his most recent result was a second-place finish at the California International Marathon in a new personal best time of 2:12:52.

Flanagan was also on the hunt for the Canadian record this Sunday, and came agonizingly close, running just 10 seconds behind Schiebler’s time. The 27-year-old has also had a lot of success recently, winning the Canadian 10K championships in Toronto in October and taking the title in the Manchester Road Race in November. “I am looking forward to competing,” he told Canadian Running ahead of the race. “The plan is to run conservatively to tackle the Canadian record. It’s engraved in my head.”

While he didn’t achieve his goal, Flanagan ran a very strong race and we will have plenty more opportunities to watch Flanagan on the roads. He will be running a few 5,000m and 10,000m races this spring to secure a spot on Team Canada at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Ore., but tells us that he will be stepping up to the marathon in hopes of qualifying for the Paris 2022 Olympics.

Ethiopia’s Milkesa Tolosa won the race in 1:00:24, followed by Kenya’s John Korir in second in 1:00:27 and Wilfred Kimitei of the U.K. in third in 1:00:44.

(01/17/2022) Views: 1,169 ⚡AMP
by Brittany Hambleton

Canadian Ben Flanagan is after one thing at the Houston Half Marathon, I have my eye on the Canadian half-marathon record of 61:28, he says

The 2022 Houston Half Marathon is set to take place this Sunday, drawing many of the world’s top elite to the event. In the field is Kitchener, Ont’s., Ben Flanagan, who ended his 2021 season on a winning note, looking to continue his string of solid performances into the new year. He is heading to this weekend’s half marathon with one thing on his mind: Jeff Schiebler’s 23-year-old Canadian half-marathon record of 61:28.

“I am looking forward to competing,” Flanagan says. “The plan is to run conservatively to tackle the Canadian record. It’s engraved in my head.” The 21.1 km distance isn’t foreign for the former NCAA 10,000m champion. In 2020, he ran 1:03:19 to win his half-marathon debut in South Carolina. His debut time was the 10th fastest ever by a Canadian male, and on Sunday he has the chance to better his result on one of the fastest courses in North America.

“My results at the Scotiabank Waterfront 10K and Manchester Road Race gave me a lot of confidence in the fall,” Flanagan says. He won both races skillfully, breaking away from his competition in the mid-stages of the race and not looking back.

Flanagan made his decision to run Houston in late November. “The timing of this race fit in perfectly in my training,” Flanagan says. “I had a lot of strength built up after Manchester, so we focused on building endurance over the past month and a half.”

Although Flanagan has shown a lot of success on the roads, he isn’t quite done with the track yet. He will be running a few 5,000m and 10,000m races this spring to secure a spot on Team Canada at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Ore.

When asked about when he was going to step up to the marathon, Flanagan mentioned he would love the opportunity to represent Canada in the marathon at the Paris Olympics. “Stepping up to the marathon this year might be a stretch, but I want to give myself a chance to qualify for Paris.”

Flanagan won’t be the only Canadian elite in the race Sunday. Alberta native Rory Linkletter, who was second at the California International Marathon a month ago, is in search of another personal best in Houston. In 2020, Linkletter ran 61:44, only 16 seconds off the Canadian record.

In the women’s elite field, Calgary’s Emily Setlack returns to Houston following the 1:11:40 PB she ran in 2020.

(01/13/2022) Views: 1,342 ⚡AMP
by Marley Dickinson

Hitomi Niiya wins Houston half marathon

Hitomi Niiya went unchallenged and just crushed it on Sunday morning in the women’s half marathon of the 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon. Niiya covered the 13.1-mile course in 1:06:38, breaking a 13-year-old record for the fastest time by a Japanese women’s half marathon runner.

Jemal Yimer Mekonnen of Ethopia sprinted to the finish line to win the men’s half marathon in :59:24. Mekonnen, who finished second in this race last year, just missed the course record of :59:22.

Mekonnen is the third winner in Houston to finish in under an hour. Mekonnen’s pace was a 4-minute, 32-second mile.

Bernard Kipkorir Ngeno (Kenya) was a second behind Mekonnen, finishing in 59:26. Another second behind at :59:27 was Shadrack Kimining Korir (Kenya).

When Niiya was closing in on the finish, there was no runner within sight of the 31-year-old. She ran the third-fastest time in Houston on this course for women in the half marathon. Niiya, who represented Japan at the 2012 Summer Olympics, averaged a 5:05-minute mile.

Brillian Jepkorir Kipkoech (Kenya) ran second in the women’s race in 1:08:08, followed by Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui (Kenya) in 1:08:13. Sara Hall was the top American woman finisher. Hall came in with a time of 1:08:55, for ninth place.

(01/19/2020) Views: 1,854 ⚡AMP

A year ago, Reed Fischer paid his own way to the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon this year he is excited for his return

Without a sponsor, the former Drake Bulldog didn’t have a racing uniform to wear.  So, he stopped by the race expo at the cavernous George R. Brown Convention Center to do some shopping.

“I bought just a plain, black Nike singlet,” Fischer told Race Results Weekly in an interview here today.  “I was, and still am, unsponsored.  So for me, I just wanted to have a very understated, mixed-brand look.”  He continued: “I just wanted people to know where I stood from a sponsorship standpoint.”

Holding the pace that his coach Tom Schwartz said he was capable of, Fischer ran the four 5-kilometer segments within the race in 14:51, 14:38, 14:41 and 14:49, respectively.  He pushed through the final 1097 meters in a brisk 3:07, and crossed the finish line in 1:02:06, s 51-second personal best.  Along the way, he set road PB’s for 10-K (29:29), 15-K (44:10) and 20-K (58:59).  He was also the first American, beating better-known athletes like Parker Stinson and Noah Droddy, and his time made him the sixth-fastest American at the half-marathon distance for 2019.

Was he surprised at his performance?

“Yes,” Fischer admitted.  “Maybe a bit more than I expected, to be completely honest.  Coach Schwartz and I knew I was in around 62-minute shape, so from a time standpoint I ran 62:06, basically right where we hoped that I could run.  But, I did not expect to crack the top-10 or be the top American.”

Fischer, who trains with the Tinman Elite group in Boulder, Colo., comes to this year’s race with a different mindset.  He was supposed to make his marathon debut in Chicago last October, but had to withdraw when he suffered a “mild stress reaction” in his left foot, according to his Instagram page.  It was a devastating setback for the young runner who had put together a very solid block of training.

“Working through my first injury as an athlete has been undoubtedly difficult, but I’ve found a new appreciation for running as a result,” Fischer posted on Instagram at the time.  “I’m incredibly grateful for my support team, they’ve helped keep me optimistic and get me back to running as quickly as possible.”

Revising his plans, Fischer will now make his marathon debut at the USA Olympic Trials Marathon on Saturday, February 29.  His race here on Sunday comes off of heavy marathon training and will provide a valuable test for his fitness.  He is trying for a nuanced approach.

“There two ways you can approach it,” Fischer explained.  “One, is you go and have a nice conservative day and feel good about where things are at, and maybe don’t run 100% of what you could.  Or, the other one’s, maybe, you say I’m just going to try and see if I can make something happen on some tired legs, go 100% effort and see if it pans out, or if you crash and burn.  I’m trying to toe the line between the two.  I’m trying to run really aggressively and rip the band-aid off.”  He continued: “I’m definitely fitter than last year.”

Fischer has been in Boulder two and a half years training with Tinman Elite, and he loves the camaraderie of the group.  The other athletes –Drew Hunter, Jeff Thies, Aaron Templeton, Joseph Berriatua, Connor Winter, Kyle Medina, Jordan Gusman, Sam Parsons, and Patrick Joseph– are middle-distance/5000m athletes, so Fischer is their long distance man (marathoner Brogan Austin is also part of Tinman, but he trains in Iowa). 

(01/18/2020) Views: 1,765 ⚡AMP
by David Monti

Jemal Yimer, Jared Ward, Sara Hall, Molly huddle and more on Tap at 2020 Houston Half Marathon

Year-in, year-out, no American half marathon assembles better fields than Houston. In addition to being the site of both the men’s (Ryan Hall, 2007) and women’s (Molly Huddle, 2018) American records, there is always a deep list of sub-60:00 men and sub-67:00 women on the start line. Last year, Brigid Kosgei kicked off one of the greatest years in the history of distance running with a win in Houston.

The international fields in Houston, which takes place on Sunday, are strong once again. But from an American perspective, the more intriguing storyline is the impending US Olympic Marathon Trials, to be held in six weeks’ time in Atlanta. Several top Trials contenders — Molly Huddle and Sara Hall on the women’s side, Jared Ward and Shadrack Biwott on the men’s — will be racing on Sunday, and while no result will make or break their Trials hopes, it does give us one last piece of evidence to go on. 

When Huddle debuted in the marathon, placing third in New York in 2016, it looked to be the first step in a journey that would culminate at the 2020 Olympic marathon. Among Americans, Huddle was the queen of all distances between 5k and the half marathon and her grind-it-out style seemed well-suited to marathon success.

Tuliamuk, the 2018 US half marathon champ, is an option, though she’s got progressively slower in Houston the last three years, from 69:58 in 2017 to 71:41 in 2018 to 72:03 last year. She’ll need to get back to her 2017 form to crack the top two Americans on Sunday.

Katy Jermann (née Moen) and Molly Seidel both ran 70:27 last year, tied for third-fastest in the US. Of the two, Seidel, who in 2015 broke the “Foot Locker curse” to win the the 2015 NCAA XC title, is the more intriguing prospect. Seidel had never run a half before October 2019, but Houston will be her third in three months, and she plans to make her marathon debut at the Trials.

With a 2:09 in Boston and two sixth-place finishes in New York, Jared Ward has been the most consistent American marathoner over the last 18 months. Beating him on Sunday doesn’t guarantee a repeat result next month in Atlanta, but it would be a positive sign for the other Olympic hopefuls in this field.

With a high of 59, the temperature looks great for running on Sunday, though 13 mph winds mean the conditions won’t be perfect. Still, with the talent on hand in Houston, there should be competitive races up front. In the men’s race, there’s no clear favorite.

Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer (58:33), the fourth-fastest man ever, was a close second last year after taking a wrong turn late in the race. He went on to run 59:09 in Valencia in October, where he finished two seconds behind Kenya’s Bernard Ngeno, also entered in Houston. Andamlak Belihu had a terrific 2019 (26:53/59:10, 5th at Worlds in 10k), while the last two Houston champs, Shura Kitata of Ethiopia and Jake Robertson of New Zealand, return as well.

(01/17/2020) Views: 1,785 ⚡AMP

Caroline Chepkoech, the sixth all-time fastest runner at half marathon will lead Kenya's bid to conquer the Houston Half Marathon on Jan. 19

Kenyan Caroline Chepkoech, who has ruled out any hopes of competing at the Tokyo Olympics in the marathon, will have to calculate her steps to perfection if she has to beat Kenyan-turned Israeli Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, the reigning European 10,000m champion.

With a personal best time of 65:07, Chepkoech is the fastest ahead of Chemtai 66:09 and Ethiopians Burka (66:11), former champion Ruti Aga (66:39). Current champion Ethiopia's Biruktayit Degefa will also be back to defend her title.

"This will be a good testing ground ahead of the April marathon. The big challenge is here with top runners. But for me the focus is to improve the time and hopefully win the race," said Chepkoech on Wednesday.

Hassan El Abbassi (2:04:43) and Woldaregay Kelkile Gezahegn (2:05:56) are the quickest marathon entrants. Degefa's main opposition could come from fellow Ethiopian Askale Merachi.

In the men's race, Jemal Yimer, the fourth fastest of all time (58:33) is quickest in the line-up, one of eight sub-hour runners. Shura Kitata (59:16), Bernard Kipkorir (59:07) and Robertson (59:58) will oppose him.

Kipkorir will team up with compatriot Bernard Ngeno (59:07), Sam Chelanga (60:37) and Shadrack Biwott (61:25) to challenge the Ethiopians' dominance.

(01/09/2020) Views: 2,208 ⚡AMP

Sam Keen losses 200-pound weight and now is training for the upcoming Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Previous attempts at weight loss had temporary results at best, Keen added. “I was really good at losing 10 pounds and then giving up and gaining 20,” he said.

While stranded by the high waters, Keen started thinking about what he could do differently. “Something got into me that made me want to try harder and really commit,” he said.

First, he decided to cut carbs from his diet and fill up on protein instead. Then, he started to walk.

“At almost 400 pounds, walking is enough,” he said. “I’d go 20 minutes and a little less than a mile, which was a long way for me then.”

He increased his time and distance until he walked about four hours each day. “I listened to every podcast,” he said. “I pushed as much as my feet could bear.”

Keen dropped 100 pounds in six months. “That becomes addictive,” he said. “Instead of going to the bar and drinking a few beers, I’d go for a walk. I would walk to work, 2 miles each way.”

But after a while, walking four hours a day started to bore him. Then one day, he walked by Orangetheory Fitness, a gym known for hourlong classes combining cardio and strength training.

“I looked it up, and it scared me,” he said. “But that was a good thing. I wanted to do something that scared me. I needed a push.”

He liked that people of all fitness levels feel welcome. “I fell in love with it,” he said. “It was exactly what I needed.”

The support offered by the coaches, who push clients to meet their fitness goals, ended up being his favorite part. Head coach Austin McCafferty said that the feeling was mutual.

He first met Keen in a three-person training session with McCafferty’s wife. “Sam fit in perfectly with our group,” McCafferty said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Then, Keen shared his weight-loss story. “I would have never known,” McCafferty said. “It was just mind-blowing. It was truly astonishing to see.”

McCafferty added that Keen is a perfect example of dedication. “Progress starts one small step at a time,” McCafferty said. “You have to stay consistent, set your routine and have determination, like Sam did.”

With the help of the trainers, Keen noticed another benefit he hadn’t expected: “I started feeling confident. The coaches made me feel empowered. That was something I didn’t even know I needed.”

Before long, he was signing up for competitions at Orangetheory. Then, he started running outside more — and wanted to push that as well.

About six months ago, Keen and a friend signed up for the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon in Florida. He downloaded a training plan online and competed in the race this fall. He also completed the La Porte By the Bay Half Marathon in November.

“Two years ago, I couldn’t walk a 5K,” Keen said. “Here I am, running without stopping 13.1 miles. Two years is not much time.”

He is now training for the upcoming Aramco Houston Half Marathon. He’ll run another in Austin in February, and a third in Fort Worth in March.

His goal now is to travel the country competing in races. He has a map ready to keep track. In May, he heads to Pittsburgh for his first full marathon. His second is in Seattle in June.

(01/06/2020) Views: 1,801 ⚡AMP
by Lindsay Peyton

Emily Sisson is now the second fastest American woman half marathoner

Emily Sisson became the second fastest half marathon American woman in history today in Houston.  Just two days after announcing her plans to debut at the London Marathon, Sisson finished fifth overall in a time of 1:07:30 at the 2019 Houston Half Marathon. 

Her performance on Sunday was just five seconds shy of the American record of 1:07:25 set by her mentor Molly Huddle in Houston last year.

it was a cold day but Emily went for it passing the 10k mark in an amazing 31:39.  That is faster than her best road 10k

Despite the windy conditions and the confusion with pace at certain points on the course, Sisson still managed to finish just five seconds shy of the American record in a new personal best of 1:07:30. The performance improved on her previous best by almost a full minute. 

“On hindsight, I probably should have worn a watch. I’ve never done a road race where I’ve tried to run a certain time. Normally, I’m just racing competition and not thinking about the time at all so this was kind of a first for me,” she said. “I definitely learned some lessons, but I’m really happy with it.”

(01/20/2019) Views: 2,540 ⚡AMP

Emily Sisson is really focused on running a fast time Sunday at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon

Emily Sisson’s focus for Sunday’s Aramco Houston Half-Marathon is all about running a fast time. The Team New Balance athlete admitted, however that she’s feeling a little out of her comfort zone.

 “I’m used to racing New York Half where I’m, like, really focused on all the competition.  I’m still really focused on that here, but I’ve never run on a really fast course before, so that was never on my mind, really.  It’s a good opportunity to run fast, so I’d like to break sixty-eight minutes.  I think that’s a realistic goal.”

The American record for the half-marathon is 1:07:25, a mark which Molly Huddle set on a chilly day here one year ago.  Only Huddle, Deena Kastor (1:07:34), and Jordan Hasay (1:07:55) have broken 1:08-flat on a record-quality course (Kara Goucher ran 1:06:57 on the slightly-aided Great North Run course in England in 2007). Sisson, 27, has the road racing chops to challenge Huddle’s mark, and said that her recent training in Arizona has her in very good form.

“I feel much more fit than I was two years ago when I ran my PR in New York,” Sisson observed.  “I know Molly made a comment about (my breaking) her record.  She wouldn’t say something like that, just say something like that.  So, I’m going to take that as a compliment that she thinks I’m fit and ready to run fast.”

At the NYC Half, women run separately from the men and typically start the race cautiously.  The weather is usually cold, the course is hilly, and the athletes like to warm into their pace.  Here, Sisson will have to get on her goal pace quickly, despite the fact that it will also be cold (just above freezing at the start).  She’s a little worried about that, especially with so many sub-elite men running near her and the other top women.

“It’s so different than New York,” Sisson explained.  “In New York I feel you have a little bit of a warm-up period.  We start in the park, then go over the Manhattan Bridge.  So, you’re like jogging the first 5-K.  It will be different going straight from the gun this time.  You start with the guys, so it will be hard to hold back a little bit.”

(01/19/2019) Views: 1,808 ⚡AMP

2016 World Half Marathon bronze medallist Mary Wacera will run the Houston half Marathon as preparation for her full marathon debut

The 2016 World Half Marathon bronze medallist Mary Wacera’s preparations for her full marathon debut begins this weekend when she battles at Houston Half Marathon in the United States of America.

Wacera will run her first 42km race at this year’s Boston Marathon on April 15 and intends to use this weekend’s event as part of her build up.

She is not a stranger to the Houston streets having competed and won there before, the most memorable being her 1 hour, 06 minutes and 50 second victory last year, which was the fastest time on US soil.

“I am excited but nervous but Boston is not new to me. I have run several BAA 10Ks,” Wacera said about her upcoming marathon debut.

The half marathon specialist made her debut in road running competitions six years ago and won her first half marathon at the Saint Denis in 1:07:54.

She ran three half marathons in 2013, finishing third in the Nice and Mardi Gras half marathons and fifth at the Luanda half marathon in Angola.

But it is her win at the 2014 World’s Best 10K that raised her confidence a notch higher because she beat top names at the time including the defending champion, Joyce Chepkurui.

Having ran about 18 half marathons so far and finishing in podium positions in most of them, Wacera feels she is ripe for the longer distance.

(01/19/2019) Views: 1,600 ⚡AMP

Texan Parker Stinson will run at Houston Half Marathon with a New Coach, Dathan Ritzenhein

Stinson and Ritzenhein have a relationship that stretches back a decade. They try not to worry about the fact that, should all go well, they’ll be racing each other for an Olympic berth next year.

Parker Stinson wants to make it clear: he wasn’t stalking Dathan Ritzenhein when they first met 10 years ago in Houston. Not exactly.

Stinson was a junior at Cedar Park High School outside of Austin, in town to catch a glimpse of the biggest pro running event in the state of Texas, the Houston Half Marathon. But more than anything, he was there to see Ritzenhein; multiple posters bearing his image hung in the Cedar Park locker room, including one from his bronze-medal performance in the junior race at the 2001 World Cross Country Championships (Ritz remains the last US junior, male or female, to medal in that race). Ritzenhein was 26 and fresh off his second Olympic appearance, where he finished 9th in the marathon in Beijing, and about to embark on a career year that would see him break Bob Kennedy‘s American record in the 5,000 meters and earn a bronze medal at the World Half Marathon Championships.

As Hudson and Ritzenhein were on their way to dinner, Sheard approached and introduced himself and Stinson. Stinson, a little starstruck at the time, doesn’t recall much about the interaction — “I just remember trying not to say anything weird” — but he knew one thing: Ritzenhein was now officially his favorite runner. That moment would mark the beginning of a crucial relationship in Stinson’s life, one that evolved from star-fanboy while he was in high school to mentor-mentee during his days at the University of Oregon, where Ritzenhein served as a volunteer coach in 2014.

Last fall, their relationship changed once again when Ritzenhein agreed to coach Stinson, who parted ways with his old coach, Hudson, after the Chicago Marathon. As fate would have it, Stinson’s first race under Ritzenhein comes Sunday at the Houston Half Marathon, a decade after their first meeting.

(01/19/2019) Views: 1,522 ⚡AMP

Kenya's Fancy Chemutai has recovered from the ankle injury and is ready to run the Aramco Houston Half Marathon

Fancy Chemutai, the second fastest half marathon woman in history, leads top fields in Houston as she pushes for another top finish and boosts her chance of making the Kenya team to the World Championships.

Last year, Chemutai, 23, missed the world record held by compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei when she won in Dubai clocking 64:52.

However, that push had taken a toll on her body as she injured her knee, which has kept her out of competition for almost six months.

"It is a challenge for me in Houston but when I say I am back, it means I have gauged myself. I will still fight for the medals. I am progressively returning to full fitness."

"I have sat down with my coach and I believe I have a chance to race again," said Chemutai, who currently trains in Iten.

(01/09/2019) Views: 1,450 ⚡AMP

British athlete Dewi Griffiths will be running the Houston half marathon

Dewi Griffiths will line up in the half marathon hoping to lay down a marker before making a return to marathon racing later this year.

The Welshman, who ran a fantastic 2:09:49 marathon debut in 2017, had his 2018 season scuppered for the most part due to injury.

Griffiths made a steady return to action in the latter part of the year, building up to a 1:02:55 performance at the Cardiff hosted Commonwealth Half Marathon Championships in October, before ending on a high with a 28:49 10k at the Corrida de Houilles in France.

Among those Griffiths will face are five sub 60 minute athletes, including Kenyan trio Bedan Karoki Muchiri, Bernard Ngeno and Geoffrey Koech, while USA’s Shadrack Biwott and Bernard Lagat are also in the field.

(01/08/2019) Views: 1,768 ⚡AMP

Sarah Attar Sets Saudi Arabria Half Marathon Record

Every time Sarah Attar runs a personal best, which she did Sunday in Houston with a 1:26:47 in the half marathon, she also sets a national record. Attar is the only elite female runner to represent Saudia Arabia and, as a 19-year-old in London in 2012, she became famous for becoming one of the first two women to represent the country in the Olympics. "There was a lot of backlash at the time," she said. But, when she crossed the finish line, "I had a standing ovation of, like, 80,000 people." (01/15/2018) Views: 1,499 ⚡AMP

Lagat runs AR Masters for Half of 1:02:00 at Aramco

Bernard Lagat runs 1:02:00 for Masters American Record. Bernard retired from elite track & field on September 3, 2016, with a 3000 meters at ISTAF Berlin. Lagat spent much time each year training in Germany, and he decided that it would be a fitting way to end his athletics career. Bernard Lagat went out fast and furious and his 1:02:00 was impressive, a 32 second improvement on his PR. Looks like he could run under the World Masters record of 1:01:19! (01/15/2018) Views: 1,430 ⚡AMP