FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Loaded Fields Set For 2014 Chevron Houston Marathon
Aramco Houston Half Marathon To Host USA Half Marathon Championships
HOUSTON - The 42nd edition of the Chevron Houston Marathon Race Weekend
features stacked fields in both the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco
Houston Half Marathon, which plays host to the USA Half Marathon
Championships.
"Our Elite Athlete Committee has done its homework, as always, to produce a
field that has the potential to rewrite our race record book," said Chevron
Houston Marathon Race Director Brant Kotch. "A number of top finishers from
last year's weather-challenged races will get another chance to show us
their best, but they will have to prove their fitness against some talented
newcomers. The four deep fields should be propelled to some great times on
our new and even faster course."
Defending champion Bazu Worku of Ethiopia, who set a personal best 2:05:25
when he finished third at the 2010 Paris Marathon, leads the field in the
men's Chevron Houston Marathon. Out to challenge him on race day will be
2012 Chevron Houston Marathon runner-up Debebe Tolossa. Ethiopians Dadi
Yami and Gebretsadik Adhana, who have run sub 2:06 and 2:07 respectively,
and Getachew Negari Terfa will also be in the field.
2013 Chevron Houston Marathon third-place finisher Meskerem Assefa of
Ethiopia returns to Houston hoping to improve upon her personal best
2:25:17 that she set here last year. Ethiopian Abebech Afework Bekele is
the fastest woman in the field with a personal best of 2:23:59 from her
runner-up finish at the 2013 Rotterdam Marathon. She ran three sub 2:29
marathons in 2013. Yeshimebet Bifa, who ran a personal best 2:26:17 when
she finished third in Seoul this year, is also entered. Kenya's Sarah
Kiptoo, who ran five half marathons and four marathons in 2013 - setting
personal bests in each, should challenge for the lead. Also watch for 2012
World Indoor 3,000m bronze medalist Gelete Burka, who will be running her
second-ever marathon.
"We're equally excited about the return of the USA Half Marathon
Championships, where the American athletes have given us a big vote of
confidence by turning out in numbers that far exceed our previous
experience with the Championships from 2005 through 2011," said Kotch.
"Again, the key word is "deep" - sprint finishes could easily be the order
of the day."
Four of the top five finishers from the 2013 USA Half Marathon
Championships will toe the line in Houston. 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials
Marathon champion and London Games fourth-place finisher Meb Keflezighi
returns to Houston looking to win his second national half marathon title.
The 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, Keflezighi first won in Houston
in 2009 and finished as the runner-up in 2013. Shadrack Biwott and Josphat
Boit, both newly minted American citizens who finished third and fifth
respectively, are also in the field. Also watch for Tim Ritchie, who placed
fourth at the 2013 USA Half Marathon Championships, and Luke Puskedra, who
set a personal best 1:01:36 with his fourth-place finish in the 2013 Aramco
Houston Half Marathon.
2013 USA Half Marathon champion Adriana Nelson leads the women's field and
will be challenged by Serena Burla, who will be looking to improve on her
two runner-up finishes at these Championships in Houston in 2010 and 2011.
Steeplechaser Sara Hall, who debuted at the half marathon distance in
October with a win at the Healdsburg Wine Country Half Marathon, should be
in the mix. 2012 Olympic 10,000m runner Lisa Uhl, who set her personal best
1:13:28 with her sixth-place finish at the 2013 Aramco Houston Half
Marathon, and Renee Baillie, who last ran a half marathon when she finished
fourth at the 2010 USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston, are also
entered.
Women's Marathon
Abebech Bekele (ETH)
Meskerem Assefa (ETH)
Tatyana Aryasova (RUS)
Yeshimebet Bifa (ETH)
Sarah Kiptoo (KEN)
Makda Haji (ETH)
Gelete Burka (ETH)
Seada Kedir (ETH)
Men's Marathon
Bazu Worku (ETH)
Dadi Yami (ETH)
Gebretsadik Adhana (ETH)
Getachew Terfa (ETH)
Debebe Tolossa (ETH)
Dominic Ondoro (KEN)
Solomon Tsige (ETH)
Patrick Rizzo (USA)
Scott Wietecha (USA)
Women's Half Marathon
Adriana Nelson
Serena Burla
Kelly Brinkman
Renee Baillie
Mattie Suver
Clara Santucci
Dot McMahan
Tera Moody
Sara Hall
Katie McGregor
Lisa Uhl
Nuta Olaru
Men's Half Marathon
Meb Keflezighi
Shadrack Biwott
Tim Ritchie
Josphat Boit
Luke Puskedra
Aaron Braun
Fernando Cabada
Tyler McCandless
Sergio Reyes
Craig Leon
Daniel Tapia
Ben Bruce
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.
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