PRs and Records Aplenty at Sunday’s Houston Marathon and Half – runnersworld.com

The 2019 Houston Marathon and Half Marathon brought several history-making runs on Sunday morning despite near freezing temperatures and a high wind chill factor at the start.

To start, Brigid Kosgei, the 2018 Chicago Marathon winner, shattered the record for the fastest half marathon ever completed by a woman on U.S. soil. Then in the same race, Emily Sisson finished just five seconds shy of the American record in the distance. And women’s marathon winner Biruktayit Degefa came within reach of breaking the course record.

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Record runs for the women’s half

Historically, the Houston Half Marathon has hosted some of the fastest half marathon performances in the U.S., and Sunday followed the same trend. Kosgei’s winning time of 1:05:50 shattered the previous record of 1:06:29 set by Mary Wacera in Houston at the 2016 race.

Kosgei accomplished the feat by attacking the pace through miles 10 and 11, where she dropped a 5:03 and 4:58 split, respectively. The sudden move—which followed a 5K split of 16:07, a 10K split of 31:33, and a 15K split of 46:51—gave her almost a minute lead over runner-up Fancy Chemutai at 20K. With just a few minutes remaining in the race, Kosgei pressed forward to break the tape in a new personal best and all-comers record.

“In my training I prepared well; that’s why I ran sixty-five,” Kosgei said. “I was surprised, due to the coldness.”

Behind Kosgei, Sisson finished fifth overall in a time of 1:07:30, which is just five seconds shy of the American record set by Molly Huddle at last year’s Houston Half Marathon. In just her third half marathon ever, Sisson became the second-fastest American woman to ever run the distance. Her first half marathon, a 68:21 finish at the 2017 NYC Half, was the fastest debut by an American woman.

“Being that close to Molly’s record is amazing, and it’s a huge confidence boost for me because Molly is an incredible runner and Deena [Kastor] held it before her, and she’s obviously one of the best,” Sisson said. “I think I’m in a good place, and it’s a good ballpark to be in.”

With Houston completed, Sisson will begin preparing for another debut in a longer distance. In April, she will toe the line of the London Marathon with her mentor Huddle, who recently finished fourth at the 2018 New York City Marathon.

Victor Sailer, Houston Marathon Committee

Close finishes in the men’s half

The men’s race came down to the wire when Shura Kitata outkicked Jemal Yimer–both of Ethiopia–in the final stretch to take home the victory. Shura’s final time of 1:00:11 is the fourth-fastest Houston Half Marathon performance of all time, and Yimer came in just three seconds afterward.

Last year, Kitata placed fourth in Houston before finishing second at the London Marathon with a personal best of 2:04:49.

Representing the top of the American contingent, Reed Fischer placed 10th overall to finish in 1:02:06, an improvement on his previous personal best by 51 seconds.

In a highly anticipated individual race, ultrarunner Jim Walmsley accomplished his goal of qualifying to compete at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Walmsley, who broke the course record at the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run last summer, ran 1:04:00 in the half marathon to hit the “B” standard exactly.

“For me, it shows that I still have a little bit of leg speed,” Walmsley said. “This gives me hope that I can do something maybe exciting in the marathon, really push the envelope for myself and make things exciting for people to watch and cheer for, kind of root for that ultra guy.”

Victor Sailer, Houston Marathon Committee

Dominating run for Degefa

The women’s marathon proved to be a fantastic run for Ethiopian Biruktayit Degefa, who dropped her competition between 30 and 35K into the race. By 35K, she carried a 30-second lead over Meseret Belete. That lead extended through the final miles and into the finish when she broke the tape in 2:23:28, over three minutes faster than a hard-charging Belaynesh Fikadu.

Degefa’s performance is the third-fastest time ever run on the Houston Marathon course. (Course record-holder Alemitu Abera of Ethiopia ran 2:23:14 in 2012.)

Degefa also improved on her own personal best from 2015, when she finished third in Houston—one of six top-four finishes she’s had on the course.

Goucher ready for a change

Around the same time that Degefa was making race-cinching moves, two-time Olympian Kara Goucher was fighting her own separate battle.

The race was Goucher’s first marathon since placing a heartbreaking fourth at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. While she came into Houston with the goal of having fun and running purely for herself, injury derailed her plans.

Just after mile 16, Goucher started to feel pain in her left hamstring–the same place where she suffered a partial tear in 2015–and by mile 18, she was in so much pain that she was forced to walk. She made the difficult decision to drop out of the race around the 31K mark.

“I know it was the right call because I’m in a lot of pain right now, but I just really wanted to finish,” she said. “I’ve never dropped out of a marathon before. It doesn’t feel good.”

While she promised her coach Mark Wetmore that she wouldn’t make any big training decisions within the next 36 hours, she did say that she is ready for a change.

Victor Sailer, Houston Marathon Committee

Korir wins first race in America

In his first visit to the U.S., Kenya’s Albert Korir emerged victorious over runner-up Yitayal Atnafu for the marathon distance. Korir posted a winning time of 2:10:02, just six seconds faster than his Ethiopian competitor.

Korir’s performance follows a breakthrough year in 2018 in which he ran a personal best of 2:08:17 to place second at the Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon in Japan.