By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Outcomes Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
HOUSTON (19-Jan) — Conner Mantz and Weini Kelati set new American information on the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon on a cold and windy morning right here. Mantz, 28, the reigning USATF marathon champion, crushed Ryan Corridor’s legendary document of 59:43 set right here in 2007, working 59:17 and almost successful the race total. Kelati, 28, broke her document of 1:06:25 set right here a 12 months in the past, clocking 1:06:09.
“It was a special occasion as we speak,” stated Mantz, who completed second to Ethiopia’s Addisu Gobena by 4/100ths of a second (each athletes got the identical time). He added: “My coach, Ed Eyestone, ready me nicely.”
Mantz made his intentions recognized proper from the gun at 6:45 a.m. With a black watch cap pulled down low on his head, Mantz tucked in behind pacemaker Amon Kemboi of Kenya and Gobena, Gabriel Geay of Tanzania, and Jemal Yimer of Ethiopia, twice the race champion right here.
Kemboi did an important job, taking the quartet of contenders by means of 5 km in 14:02 and 10 km in 28:01. That tempo was beneath the required one to interrupt Feyisa Lelisa’s course document of 59:22, set in 2012.
Though Kemboi dropped simply after 10-Ok, the tempo remained robust by means of 15-Ok. The third 5-kilometer phase was timed at 14:04, and the 4 athletes had been rotating in opposition to the wind. Gobena did quite a lot of the main.
Remarkably, the 4 stayed collectively all the way in which to the ultimate kilometer, and it was solely inside the ultimate 200 meters {that a} head-to-head dash between Gobena and Mantz arrange. Gobena had a one-step lead and seemed to be getting away, however Mantz surged on the Ethiopian’s left and tried to overhaul him. As the 2 barreled for the slender end tape, Gobena angled barely to his left, squeezing Mantz, who almost bumped into one of many tape holders. Officers confirmed that Gobena was the winner, and the 2 athletes embraced after the end.
“I used to be thrilled to have the ability to run with all these runners,” stated Gobena, who received $15,000 in prize cash. “I used to be thrilled to have the ability to compete with such nice athletes.”
Alongside the way in which to his document, Mantz cut up 42:05 at 15 miles, 45:16 at 10 miles, and 56:23 at 20 miles. These are all pending nationwide information.
“It is a document I actually wished,” stated Mantz, trying barely shocked. “I wish to decrease it down the street.”
Happening the end order, Geay took third in 59:18, Yimer bought fourth in 59:20, and Britain’s Patrick Dever took fifth in 1:00:11.
Within the girls’s race, Kelati additionally set pending American information at 15 miles (46:32), 10 miles (50:05), and 20 miles (1:02:43).
“The aim is simply to run onerous from the start (and) that’s what I did,” stated Kelati, who stated that abdomen issues virtually derailed her race as we speak.
Like Mantz, Kelati completed second. Senayet Getachew of Ethiopia picked up 5 seconds on Kelati within the twentieth kilometer and held a four-second result in the end. She received in 1:06:05 and claimed the $15,000 first prize.
“The race was excellent, very powerful,” stated Getachew by means of a translator. She continued: “I’ve by no means run in climate like this.”
Mantz and Kelati took house $18,000: $8,000 for second place and $10,000 for setting new nationwide information.
The Chevron Houston Marathon lacked the fireworks of the half however was nonetheless an thrilling race. The boys’s elite pack went out conservatively in 1:04:17, conserving ten males in competition, together with Israel’s Haimro Alame, Eritrea’s Yemane Haileselassie, and Kenya’s Shadrack Kimining.
Haileselassie, who received the Honolulu Marathon final month, put in a surge after 30-Ok, working the 5-kilometer phase between 30 and 35-Ok in 14:49. That was too quick for a lot of the pack and arrange a three-way battle between Alame, Haileselassie, and Kimining simply previous 40-Ok. Alame jumped and ran away for the win in 2:08:17. He received $50,000 in prize cash.
“At first, it was slower as a result of it was so chilly, so the one possibility was to save lots of every little thing for the ending kick,” stated Alame, clutching the Israeli flag.
Haileselassie took second in 2:08:25, Kimining bought third in 2:08:29, and France’s Hugo Taupiac took fourth in 2:08:50. Christian Allen was the highest American in seventh place in 2:10:32. His time was the quickest ever by an American man in Houston.
Within the girls’s division of the marathon, Ethiopia’s Kumeshi Sinhala bought away from compatriot Tsige Haileslase and American Erika Kemp within the twenty sixth kilometer. For the remainder of the race, she had solely males for firm. She cruised to a private greatest of two:20:42.
“It was after the midway that I left everybody behind,” stated Sichala by means of a translator. “After the pacemaker dropped out, I adopted runners (males) working for themselves. At 26-Ok, I used to be capable of draw back.”
Kemp, who was working in solely her second marathon, achieved her aim of working the “large PB” she stated she was making an attempt for. She completed second in 2:22:56, a 2025 World Championships qualifier and the second-fastest time ever by an American girl in Houston. She improved her private greatest by over 11 minutes.
Haileslase, who struggled within the second half, held on for third in 2:25:09. Fourth went to a different Ethiopian, Anna Dibaba, in 2:26:49. Amber Zimmerman of Philadelphia bought fifth in 2:29:01.
The Aramco Houston Half-Marathon and Chevron Houston Marathon are World Athletics Gold Label Street Races. That is the one occasion with two Gold Label races contested on the identical day on the similar time.
