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Keflezighi Impresses with Dominant U.S. Half-Marathon Victory
Posted January 19th, 2009 at 12:48 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Coming off of an injury-riddled year he might rather forget, Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi convincingly demonstrated his return to form with a dominant victory here at today’s U.S. Half-Marathon Championships hosted by the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon.
Keflezighi, 33, from San Diego, Calif., dropped the hammer early in the race to reach 5 km in 14:07, on pace to break Ryan Hall’s course and American record of 59:43. His key rival, 26 year-old Dathan Ritzenhein, was about 8 seconds back and the rest of the field was quickly relegated to running for the minor places. Ritzenhein did his best to keep Keflezighi close, but the gap began to widen.
“I was trying to chase him down the whole way,” said Ritzenhein after the race. “It felt rough. The legs didn’t quite have anything.”
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Carney and O’Neill Win First USA Titles at Aramco Houston Half-Marathon
Posted January 13th, 2008 at 1:42 PM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
James Carney and Kate O’Neill (Pictured) got their 2008 racing campaigns off to a flying start by winning their first-ever USA titles at today’s Aramco Houston Half-Marathon here.
Carney, from Boulder, Colo., ran boldly for a man who had never run a half-marathon before. He launched to the lead through the first mile, and by the four-mile mark only Jason Lehmkule and Ryan Kirkpatrick were able to hang on to Carney’s pace.
“I decided to take it out hard and hold on as long as I can,” said Carney just after crossing the finish line and being presented with a massive silver belt buckle. He added: “If I blow up, I blow up.”
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USA Half-Marathon Titles
Up for Grabs in Houston
Posted January 13th, 2008 at 8:30 AM by David Monti
Section: News & Results, Marathons
With deep fields but no clear favorites, Sunday’s USA Half-Marathon Championships hosted by the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon look to be wide open races. Most athletes are only in the base phase of their training cycles, either recovering from, or in the early stages of preparing for, important marathons. Expectations amongst the top entrants are modest, despite the $12,000 winner’s purse.
“I was in the same boat last year at this time,” said defending women’s champion Elva Dryer in a telephone interview last night from Houston. Prior to last year’s championship, Dryer was just restarting her training after running the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in October.
This year, she’s had even less recovery time after placing sixth at the ING New York City Marathon last November. However, Houston offers her a good chance to see where her training stands for April’s USA Olympic Team Trials - Women’s Marathon in Boston. A two-time Olympian at 10,000m, Dryer has an excellent shot of qualifying for her first Olympic marathon.
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Houston Marathon Establishes Foundation
Posted October 13th, 2007 at 12:45 PM by Martha Jones
Section: News & Results
The Houston Marathon Committee, governing body of the Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon and EP5K, has established a philanthropic organization to support running initiatives in the Houston area and nationwide.
“The Houston Marathon Committee wanted to find a way to support running in the community and nationally on a level that goes beyond offering a series of races once a year,” says Committee President Brant Kotch. “The Houston Marathon Foundation will allow us to do that through contributions to programs and projects that promote running.”
The Foundation primarily will support efforts that foster education about running and the advancement of running, and organizations that help develop running as a sport in the Houston community and nationwide. Three programs are being funded initially: the USA Distance Project, a national program that focuses on developing elite U.S. distance runners; the HARRA Kids’ Race and the Texas Children’s Hospital Kids’ Fun Run. Foundation members will meet quarterly to review other programs for potential funding.
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Aramco Houston Half Marathon to host USA Half Marathon Championships through 2011
Posted September 7th, 2007 at 7:21 PM by Jeanie Rebb
Section: News & Results, Marathons
The Aramco Houston Half Marathon has extended its commitment to host the USA Half Marathon Championships through 2011, USATF has annoucned. The event has previously hosted the USA Men’s Half Marathon Championship (2005-’06) and both the men’s and women’s championships in 2007.
“Houston has traditionally been a great proving ground for new U.S. talent,” said Bill Roe, USATF President. “The support that Houston and Aramco Services Company have put forth both in the race as well as in key funding for the USA Distance Project will continue to keep the momentum moving forward for USA long distance athletes.”
The 2008 USA Half-Marathon Championships will be held in conjunction with the thirty-sixth running of the Chevron Houston Marathon on January 13, and will be the first race on the 2008 USA Running Circuit (USARC).
The USA Half Marathon Championship races have attracted some of America’s top young runners. In 2007, that field included Ryan Hall of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., who clocked an American record 59:43 over the 13.1-mile course, obliterating the previous record set by Mark Curp in 1985. Hall’s time shaved 1:12 off the old record and made him the first American to break the 1 hour barrier in the half marathon distance.
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Podcast 6: Interview with Ryan Hall, the new American half-marathon record-holder
Posted January 29th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Adam Jacobs
Section: Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts
This week I had the privilege of interviewing Ryan Hall, the former standout from Stanford who set a new American record (59:43) at the USA Half-Marathon Championships on January 14, 2007.
Ryan, now 24 years old and the hottest name in American running, will make his marathon debut at the April 22nd Flora London Marathon.
Download the podcast to hear Ryan discuss the half-marathon record, training for London, his Olympic aspirations, the state of American distance running and much more!
Listen In
[MP3] Direct Download (Right click, select save as).
[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to youHost: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Ryan Hall
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 14.7MB
Length: 00:21:30
Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!
Ryan Hall picks London for debut marathon; opts out of USA XC Champs in Boulder
Posted January 27th, 2007 at 5:00 PM by Allyson Rosen
Section: News & Results, Marathons, Cross Country, Olympics
Ryan Hall, who set a new American record for the half-marathon on Janary 14th, has made his decision; choosing Flora London for his marathon debut.
Hall, who yesterday was interview by Adam Jacobs, TFS’s Editor, confirmed his London registration and decision to withdraw from the February 10th U.S.A. XC Champs in Boulder.
Wish you could see Hall race before the April 22nd London Marathon?
You can! Hall told Adam that he will also be running in the U.S.A 15k Champs at the Gate River Run in Jacksonville on March 10th.
Check back on Monday for the interview and listen to Hall discuss setting the half-marathon record, training for London, his Olympic aspirations and much more!
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Record-setting day at the Chevron Houston Marathon
Posted January 15th, 2007 at 2:00 PM by Danielle Correa
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Yesterday was an eventful and record-setting day in Houston, Texas - with nearly 20,000 runners participating in the thirty-fifth annual Chevron Houston Marathon .
This year’s first-place winner for the women’s marathon was Ethiopia’s Dire Tune. Tune set a new course with a time of 2:26:52; beating Ingrid Kristiansen’s previous record of 2:27:51, which was set in 1984. The runner’s up included Beata Rakonczai Hun of Hungary (2:30:14) and last year’s winner Firiya Sultanova-Zhdanova (2:39:06).
In the men’s race, Feyisa Tusse of Morocco took first place with a time of 2 hours 11 minutes and 39 seconds. Mikhail Khobotov (2:13:56) and Benson Cheruiyot (2:14:03) finished second and third, respectively.
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Ryan Hall sets new North American record for the Half-Marathon (59:43)
Posted January 14th, 2007 at 5:00 PM by Adam Jacobs
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Ryan Hall battled the elements to become at the first North American to ever run a half-marathon in less than one-hour at today’s Aramco Houston Half-Marathon. The half-marathon served as the USA Half-Marathon Championships.
Hall, who is only 24-years old, ran triumphantly against an all-star field to set a new North American half-marathon record with a time of 59 minutes and 43 seconds. [Click here to see video footage of his record-setting performance].
Hall flew past the previous record of 1:00:28 which had been held by German Silva and Dionicio Cerón since 1994. Hall also set a new American record, beating Mark Curp’s 1985 time of 1:00:55.
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Who had the more impressive Boston Marathon debut?
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On March 15, 2010
SDrunner said:
Great review, I wrote one on the Ironman Road Trainer HRM, which is similar to this one, without the...