FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Worku Defends Chevron Houston Marathon Title
Keflezighi and Burla Runaway Winners at USA Half Marathon Championships
Two returning champions claimed their second Houston wins and a pair of
first-time victors were convincing winners Sunday at the Chevron Houston
Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon. 25,000 runners enjoyed superb
weather conditions and a brand new course in front of raucous fans in a
festival atmosphere to produce some of the best races in event history.
It took Bazu Worku almost 26 miles to shake fellow Ethiopian Getachew
Terfa, but over the final half-mile the defending champion pulled away to
win the Chevron Houston Marathon in 2:07:32, the third-fastest time in race
history. Terfa crossed the line 22 seconds later at 2:07:54, and unheralded
Mexican Jose Antonio Uribe shattered his personal best with a 2:08:54 to
place third. The top American finisher was former Georgia star Ian Burrell,
who was seventh with a lifetime best 2:13:26.
With the pacemakers doing their jobs to near perfection, the lead pack of
10 came through the half-marathon at 63:15, and through the next 5K there
were still 10 men within three seconds of each other. Going by the 30K mark
at 1:30:04, Worku and Terfa had only Solomon Deksisa for company, and the
next 5K segment was crucial as the lead pair surged and put almost a minute
between them and Uribe, who had moved ahead of Deksisa.
Heading into the heart of the city on the way to the finish, Worku and
Terfa fought back and forth for the lead. By the time Worku made the final
turn towards home in front of the GRB Convention Center he had broken Terfa
and sealed the victory and a $40,000 payday.
Sarah Kiptoo of Kenya made the early pace in the women's Chevron Houston
Marathon, taking a group of seven women through 10K in 33:56. She faded
over the next 5K, leaving six women in contention and Meskerem Assefa and
Gelete Burka with a slight edge. Five runners went past the half-marathon
mark in 1:12:13 and Abebech Bekele and Biruktait Degefa looked poised to
make a break.
No one could make a significant dent, though, and Bekele and Degefa held
only a one second margin at 35K. Bekele eased ahead over the next 5K and
had a 10-second gap over Assefa and Burka with two miles to go, and she
held off a furious late challenge by Assefa to win her first marathon in
2:25:52. That was the eighth-fastest performance in race history and Assefa
climbed to No. 9 with her 2:25:59. Former world indoor 1500 champion Burka
couldn't summons enough speed at the end but still claimed the No. 10
all-time list spot at 2:26:03.
Heather Tanner ran a personal best 2:42:19 to claim the top U.S. spot,
finishing ninth overall.
Meb Keflezighi broke away from the field after the eight-mile mark and won
the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 61:23, his second USA title and the
second-fastest time in race history by an American. It was Keflezighi's
22nd U.S. title at all distances, and he earned $12,000 for the win plus
$1,500 for running under 62:00.
Keflezighi ran with a large pack for the first half of the race, trading
the lead with last year's top American finisher, Shadrack Biwott, and Tyler
Pennel. Aaron Braun and Tim Ritchie pulled the field through 5K in 14:38,
and a group of seven men led by Pennel passed 10K in 29:10.By 15K
Keflezighi gapped the pack by three seconds at 43:34, and he added nine
seconds to that margin over the next 5K to clock 58:12.
Braun and Josphat Boit edged past Pennel over the final kilometer to finish
second and third in 61:38 and 61:41.
Serena Burla mounted the podium for the first time, winning the women's
title in 1:10:48 as she ran almost unchallenged for the majority of the
race. She collected $13,500 in prize money that included $1,500 for going
under 1:11.
A pack of eight cruised through 5K under 17:03 with Burla at the front.
Burla made a strong push in the next 5K to take a 15-second lead over
Lauren Kleppin at 10K, and by 15K that lead had stretched to 40 seconds at
50:07. She went through 20K at 67:08 and had a 1:18 margin, which increased
to 1:24 at the finish, with Kleppin second and Caitlin Comfort third at
1:12:16.
For complete information on the 2014 Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco
Houston Half Marathon and USA Half Marathon Championships, please visit
http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com.
About the Houston Marathon Committee, Inc.
Established in 1972, the Houston Marathon Committee, Inc. (HMC), a Running
USA Founding Member, annually organizes the nation's premier winter
marathon, half-marathon, and 5K. Over 250,000 participants, volunteers and
spectators make Chevron Houston Marathon Race Day the largest single-day
sporting event in Houston. Race Weekend generates over $50 million in
economic impact for the region annually. In 2013, the Run For a Reason
Charity Program raised $2.2 million and the HMC garnered Gold Certification
from the Council of Responsible Sport for industry-leading sustainability
initiatives. Host to 12 U.S. Half Marathon Championships since 2005 and
the 1992 women's Olympic Trials Marathon, HMC conducted the
nationally-televised 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, which featured men
and women competing on the same course simultaneously for the first time,
vying for the chance to represent Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games.
For more information, visit http://www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com
or call 713-957-3453.
###
|
