2011 USATF Half Marathon Championships

The 2011 USA Half Marathon Championships served two purposes - a chance for America's best men and women to compete for the title of best Half Marathoner; and also - and perhaps as importantly - as a preview and opportunity for America's best marathoners to be acquainted with the course for the USA Marathon Trials and test themselves against some of their likely competitors. Houston had hosted the Half Marathon Championships as part of the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, but for 2011 the course was different and the championships were held on Saturday, away from the masses.

The weather on race day was nearly perfect for both athletes and spectators - 56 degrees - as the best American distance runners lined up to start the USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston TX. Favorites included Ryan Hall who set the American record at the Half Marathon in Houston in 2007 with a 59:43. The media and fans were eager to see how Hall would be doing after a disappointing Fall season - a poor performance at the Philadelphia Distance Run and a withdrawal from the Chicago Marathon), leaving his longtime coach and moving his residence. In the women's race, Magdalena Lewy Boulet - the 2008 Olympics Marathoner - had to be a favorite, but she was running through the race as she prepares for the London Marathon. Others to watch were Mo Trafeh, Jorge Torres, Patrick Smyth, Jason Lehmkuhle on the men's side and Jen Rhines, Tera Moody, Katie McGregor and Seren Burla on the women's side. As is the case with USA Championships races - some of the best choose not to attend (although ALL come for the Olympic Trials), and top Americans missing - for various reasons - included Meb Keflezighi, Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, Deena Kastor, Shalane Flanagen, Kara Goucher and Blake Russell.

The Men's Championships
As the men's race began...seven men were in the pack at mile 3 - Brent Vaughn Ryan Hall, Patrick Smyth, Ryan Vail, Josh Moen, Mo Trafeh, Jason Lehmkuhle, Ian Burrell and Fasil Bizuneh - all running together and running through the third mile in 14:17, a 4:45 pace. By mile 7 the lead pack diminished to six men and by mile 10, still at a 4:45 average pace, there were three men in contention: Patrick Smyth, Mo Trafeh and Ryan Hall. Smyth was doing most of the work - and at mile 6 while the others took water, Smyth skipped the fluid station and attempted to break away, but was unsuccessful.

Ryan Hall pushed the pace and he and Trafeh moved ahead of Smyth. Hall would jokingly say after the race that he was imagining this as the Boston Marathon and he was thinking of Trafeh as Deriba Merga [the 2009 Boston champion who has also been the champion at the Houston Marathon]. With the last few hundred meters before the finish, Mo Trafeh breaks away from Hall and takes the victory in 1:02:17, a three second personal best. Hall takes second in 1:02:20 well off his American record - but after the race Hall would tell us that he was happy with his performance - everything now is about getting ready for the Boston Marathon and this was a good run-up. Smyth was third in 1:02:42.

Ryan Hall Unshaven on day before Championships photo credit: MarathonGuide.com

If it's not already, we're sure it will be reported everywhere. Ryan Hall - a very good, generous and humble runner is also known to be very devout and attribute his success to God. At the press conference after the run, Hall told reporters about his new coach - we had all known that Hall had split with Terrence Mahon and the Mammoth Track Club and knew that Hall was talking with Coach Jack Daniels on occasion, but basically self-coached. The story that Hall told us was that when he went to drug-testing, the form Hall needed to fill out had a space for "Coach." Hall thought for a moment and wrote down that "God" was his coach. Apparently the USADA rep told Hall: "You need to write down a real person as coach," to which Hall replied, "Let's not get into a theological discussion of whether God is real. He is my coach."

The Women's Championships
The women's race was a different story with a strong field including previous Olympians Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Jen Rhines as well as Katie McGregor who was the 2010 National Champion in the 25K, 15K and 10 mile distances. Serena Burla, one of the great stories of the race (more below) led at mile 6 and continued to lead for much of the race. Through mile 5, the front group consisted of Burla, Rhines, McGregor as well as Tera Moody, Nan Kennard and Amy Hastings - Magdalena Lewy Boulet, our favorite, was already trailing. The race began to separate at mile 8 with Serena Burla, Nan Kennard, Jen Rihines and Katie McGregor running together. Kennard was a surprise in this group - with a previous personal best of 1:19, she was quoted before the race as believing she could run sub 1:15 - but this pace was much greater.

At mile 10 in 54:25, Kennard started to fall back; and at mile 11 Jen Rhines stepped into another gear and moved forward, running away to the victory in 1:10:39, a strong personal best at the Half Marathon. Serena Burla, took second place in 1:11:03. Nan Kennard finished third in 1:11:30, while Katie McGregor was fourth in 1:11:37.

The women's race was one filled with stories on the podium. Jen Rhines was once one of the top marathoners in the USA - even representing the USA at the 2004 Olympic Games, but decided that she enjoyed and was better at the track. After the race as all of the athletes were talking about their plans to revisit the course at the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, the fastest woman in the Half Marathon stated that she had no plans to run the Marathon Trials, but still hoping to make it to her fourth Olympics on the track.

Serena Burla was runner-up at the 2010 Half Marathon Championships running with hamstring pain. Like any runner, she told us, she believed the pain was related to running, but she was lucky to receive an MRI and be diagnosed with a tumor in her leg. Following surgery in February, a tearing Burla told us that she felt lucky to be alive and running and thankful for her diagnosis and the support of the running community.

And Nan Kennard... The mother of three who retreated from professional running to have a family at a young age is just now starting as a professional runner and making great strides. Coached by Darren and Colleen DeReuck, the race was much better than expected - boding well for the future.

Top 15 Male Finishers
1. Trafeh, Mohamed 1:02:17
2. Hall, Ryan 1:02:20
3. Smyth, Patrick 1:02:32
4. Bizuneh, Fasil 1:02:47
5. Lehmkuhle, Jason 1:02:49
6. Vail, Ryan 1:02:51
7. MacPherson, Scott 1:04:03
8. Torres, Jorge 1:04:18
9. Sayenko, Mike 1:04:20
10. Driscoll, Joseph 1:04:23
11. Nightingale, David 1:04:29
12. Chavez, Michael 1:04:49
13. Moen, Josh 1:05:05
14. Kormanik, Leo 1:05:26
15. Eberly, Joshua 1:05:33

Top 15 Female Finishers
1. Rhines, Jennifer 1:11:14
2. Burla, Serena 1:11:38
3. Kennard, Nan 1:12:03
4. McGregor, Katie 1:12:13
5. Moody, Tera 1:12:30
6. Grandt, Clara 1:13:13
7. Scherf, Lindsey 1:13:40
8. Hastings, Amy 1:14:07
9. Boulet, Magdalena 1:14:28
10. White, Melissa 1:14:50
11. Kilmer, Loretta 1:14:59
12. Houck, Jennifer 1:15:02
13. Westover, Heidi 1:15:16
14. Meyerhoff, Sally 1:15:24
15. Bracy, Addie 1:15:41