Highlights From the 2020 Houston Marathon and Half Marathon – runnersworld.com

• In the Houston Half Marathon, Hitomi Niiya of Japan won the women’s race in a time of 1:06:38. She set a new Japanese national record for the distance. Jemal Yimer Mekonnen of Ethiopia won the men’s race by one second in 59:25.
• Jared Ward and Sara Hall led the U.S. in the half marathon, both running their own personal bests.
• A Canadian national record was set in the marathon by Malindi Elmore. Her time of 2:24:50 was good enough for third place overall.

National records for Japan and Canada fell on a fast—if windy—day at the Houston Marathon in both the half and full distances, while top American athletes recorded personal bests nearly across the board in a final tune-up effort ahead of February’s U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta.

Hitomi Niiya of Japan ran so far ahead of her rivals in the women’s half marathon that the other athletes were seemingly unaware of her presence, according to staffers on the pace cart. The 31-year-old dominated the race in 1:06:38, finishing 90 seconds ahead of runner-up Brillian Jepkorir Kipkoech of Kenya and breaking the 14-year-old Japanese national record in the half marathon.

“I wasn’t paying any attention at all to anybody else,” Niiya said through a translator. “I came here to run my own race and focus on the time, and that’s what I did.”

The new record is a huge personal best for Niiya, who came out of a four-year retirement in 2018 while still battling plantar fasciitis. She had previously run 1:11:41 in 2008.

“The reason I came out of retirement is, to me, running is work and it is what I’m best at,” she said. “I felt like I still have work to do.”

In a very fast men’s half marathon—the top nine finished in under 60 minutes—it nearly took a course record for Jemal Yimer Mekonnen of Ethiopia to break the tape ahead of Kenya’s Bernard Kipkorir Ngeno, as they finished a mere second apart in 59:25 to 59:26.

U.S. Women Impress in the Half

Sara Hall placed ninth in the loaded field to finish as the top American in the half marathon with a time of 1:08:58, a new personal best. She was more than 30 seconds ahead of the next two U.S.-based women, Molly Huddle and Molly Seidel, who finished 12th and 13th in 1:09:34 and 1:09:35, respectively. Still, the 2:22:16 marathoner was hesitant to assign too much meaning to finishing as the top American today.

“I’m doing a lot of crazy hilly courses to prepare for Atlanta, so I didn’t quite know what I could do on a fast, flat half, so this is really encouraging to me in the context of that,” she said after the race. “Everyone feels different in the middle of marathon training. I can’t believe Molly [Huddle] ran 5:05 pace for a half [in Houston in 2018 to set the American record], that’s so fast.”

The 36-year-old, who is the sixth-fastest marathoner in U.S. history after spending her early career racing the 1500 meters and steeplechase, said the key to this buildup is minimizing her aggressiveness in training to avoid injury.

“Naturally, I’m very aggressive and I like to take a lot of risk,” she said. “That pays off a lot but a lot of times it ends up with injury. It’s trickier when you’re training for a hilly marathon, because you’re slamming down hills all the time.”

Huddle’s last appearance at this event yielded the American record, 1:07:25, but in the midst of training for the Olympic Trials, her goal was to get a tempo effort in without going to the well.

“I had to put the brakes on a few times to make sure I was within myself,” she said after the race. “It was a very weird mental frame of mind to be racing, but also, self-preservation going on. Usually I’m like, ‘just go for it,’ ‘trash yourself.’”

Huddle was hoping to kick some of the prerace nerves at the Olympic Trials by practicing a race-day routine in Houston. The 28-time national champion made the 2012 Olympic team in the 5,000 meters and the 2016 team in the 10,000 before turning her attention to the marathon. She hopes to channel Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan—who memorably worked together in the heat of the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles to qualify for Rio—with fellow Ray Treacy-coached athlete Emily Sisson, whose sole marathon was an impressive 2:23:08 in London.

“I think it’s our biggest advantage that we have each other, sort of like Shalane and Amy did in the last Trials. If we can use that, we’re going to use that. [We’ve] got to get on the same page, fitness-wise. I’m like, ‘I can catch up in a few weeks.’ Today was encouraging.”

Seidel ran fellow Notre Dame alum Huddle to the line in her third half-marathon race ever. The 2015 NCAA cross-country champion, now 25, has endured her share of injuries, but has five months of training under her belt after missing the latter half of 2018 thanks to a hip surgery and subsequent aches and pains.

“I really like the training for the longer distances,” she said. “It keeps me a little healthier than the shorter distance training, and I just love that feeling of hauling for a long period of time. It’s cool getting to move up in these distances, and I hope the marathon’s okay, but we’ll see when we get there.”

Seidel recently left the Freedom Track Club and is now coached by Georgetown grad Jon Green. She is still based in Boston but will finish her Trials prep in Flagstaff, Arizona. Atlanta will be her debut in the marathon.

Strong Prep for U.S. Men

Jared Ward has developed into one of the most consistent American men in the marathon since making the 2016 Olympic team and displayed why he will be a runner to watch in Atlanta with a controlled 1:01:36 performance, a seven-second personal best, for 11th place overall.

“The takeaway from this race is, to go home and keep doing what I’m doing,” Ward said, who slightly decreased his mileage to 105 miles per week ahead of Houston. “I don’t feel like I have to risk training or do anything crazy mileage-wise or intensity-wise or tempo-wise to be ready for Atlanta.”

With reigning Olympic Trials marathon champion Galen Rupp working through recent injuries and Meb Keflezighi retired, Ward would seem to be the only “lock” to make the team headed to Tokyo this summer. The 31-year-old is comfortable with the added pressure, though.

“It’s different than last time for sure,” he said of being a Trials favorite in 2020. “I was a bit of a longshot last time and was fortunate to have a good race on the right day. I feel confident in my ability to perform and as I’ve had more good races back-to-back—and a tune-up race today where I felt pretty good—it puts me in a position going into the Trials, where I feel like I get to control my outcome. As opposed to in 2016, where I was out there to put together my best race and see where it put me at the finish line.

“I was more a function in 2016 of what everyone else was running around me, and this year I get to control that. If I go out and run my race and what I’m capable of, I think I can make the team.”

Reed Fischer of Tinman Elite was on the losing end of Ward’s kick, but the 24-year-old Drake alum was pleased with the new 1:01:37 personal best, especially in the bitter cold and wind. At mile 9, he “tried to make a strength man move” to take the lead, but got blasted by the wind and tucked in next to Ward. When the Olympian started moving with a half mile to go, he went, too.

“It’s exciting, I think everybody’s got eyes on Jared,” Fischer said. “He’s insanely, insanely consistent. If Jared’s the benchmark and if you can stack up well with him, then that’s a good indicator of where you’re looking for Atlanta… to be in the hunt with him and in the conversation for that top American spot, is really encouraging for next month.”

Fischer is currently unsponsored, trains in New Balance shoes that he won at his hometown turkey trot and raced in the Nike Vaporfly 4%.

“I’m not a Next% guy just yet, but we’ll see. I’m not a marathoner yet,” he joked after the race. “If I’m still unsponsored, I’m sure I’ll wear a plated shoe just because I’d be doing myself a disadvantage to not, but if there’s sponsorship implications, I’d be very eager and willing to put on a different shoe and give it a run for its money.”

Nico Montanez was the surprise third American in 1:01:38, though he may have technically be the fastest. The 26-year-old started just behind the elite field with the American Development Program (ADP) athletes, which he estimated cost up to five seconds from gun time. Houston Marathon race officials announced that both Ward and Montanez would receive the $2,000 American bonus.

“I had quite a lot of catching up to do since the group that I wanted to be with went out at sub-4:40 pace,” he said via text. “Both Jared and Reed were tough opponents, though, so I’m not sure much would have changed in the final results.”

Only the elite field is eligible for prize money. In all, 14 U.S. men ran under 62 minutes today.

Jack Thompson

Marathon Recaps

In the men’s marathon, Kelkile Woldaregay Gezahegn of Ethiopia won his ninth career marathon in 2:08:36 ahead of countryman Bonsa Dida, who clocked 2:10:37.

Irishman Stephen Scullion, who trains in Flagstaff, earned the Olympic standard by placing fifth overall by virtue of the Houston Marathon’s status as an IAAF Gold Label race. His 2:11:52 personal best was just 22 seconds off the time standard for the Tokyo Games. The run was his third marathon in 15 weeks.

Top American honors went to prolific racer Craig Hunt of Flagstaff, who has competed in four marathons and three 50Ks within the past calendar year. The 28-year-old Central Connecticut College grad placed eighth overall in 2:17:18.

Jack Thompson

Askale Merachi of Ethiopia captured the women’s marathon title in her debut in Houston, clocking 2:23:29 as four women broke 2:25 for the first time in event history. Biruktayit Degefa Eshetu took runner-up honors in 2:24:47 and Canada’s Malindi Elmore ran 2:24:50 to shatter the national record of 2:26:56 that Rachel Cliff set just one year ago.

Canada does not have marathon trials for the Olympics, but the record should all but assure the 39-year-old Elmore a spot on the team bound for Tokyo. She made the 2004 Olympic team in the 1500 meters, then retired from track and field to take up Ironmans after missing the team in 2008 and 2012. She made her marathon debut last year at Houston in 2:32:15.

Jack Thompson

The top American woman in the full marathon on Sunday is likewise a veteran racer. Adriana Nelson, 39, placed eighth overall in 2:33:18, her highest marathon finish in a decade. The seven-time Romanian national champion, who became a U.S. citizen in 2009, is the cofounder of Roll Recovery products with her husband, Jeremy Nelson. This was her second marathon back since the birth of her first child; she ran 2:35:45 at the Berlin Marathon last fall.

“It’s been a rough comeback,” Nelson said of postpartum training. “There are some moms that are coming back so fast after having children. I was not one of them. I had some health problems and I had to take it one step at a time. I guess after all the experience I have over the years of running, my body just knows what to do.”

Alexi Pappas, representing Greece, also had an impressive day by placing 10th overall and taking nine minutes off her own personal marathon best. She was aiming for the Olympic standard of 2:29:30—with some help from official pacer and friend Allie Kieffer—but fell off pace midway.

“It got really hard at halfway and I thought, ‘you know what, I can’t maintain 5:40s, but I can finish this race,’” she said, “so I… slowed down and thought, ‘just keep putting one foot in front of the other.’ I thought I was gonna run slower than I did, so I’m pretty happy.” Pappas could still potentially make her second Olympic team through the IAAF world rankings system.

Neely Spence Gracey, in her return to the marathon after having her first child in 2018, also secured a spot on the starting line in Atlanta by finishing with a trials “B” qualifying time of 2:44:03.