Teshome Gelana breaks the tape in Houston with a huge personal record. © www.photorun.net
Every year the Chevron Houston Marathon seems to get better and better—both in terms of talent and participation. A record 30,000 runners took part in its 38th edition last weekend. A large majority of these runners put their hard work to good use—raising $1.4 million to benefit 46 Houston-area non-profit organizations.
In cool and sunny conditions, other records fell as well.
Teshome Gelana of Ethiopoa won the men’s race in 2:07:37 hours while his compatriot, Teyba Erkesso, repeated her victory of last year with 2:23:53. Both of these victories set new course records.
The 25-year-old Teshome Gelana broke away from the lead pack seven kilometers from the finish to crown the biggest win of his career as well as a significant improvement over his previous personal best, 2:11:50, which he set in 2008 when he finished eighth in Reims, France. The Ethiopian won the Warsaw Marathon in 2:12:03 last September. He went 15 seconds under the course record in Houston which his compatriot, Deriba Merga, had set the year before. “I hadn’t expected to run so fast. I hope to run other big races in the future. I believe I can run 2:05,” said Gelana who finished ahead of fellow countryman Zembaba Yigeze (2:08:27) and Jason Mbote of Kenya (2:08:58).
Teyba Erkesso had an even bigger margin of victory. The 27-year-old improved her own course record by 25 seconds. Her time of 2:23:53 was also a personal best and, in keeping with Teshome Gelana’s performance, was also the fastest so far on the freshly minted world rankings for 2010. The runner-up, Margarita Plaksina of Russia, finished almost five minutes behind (2:28:44) while the Ethiopian, Alemitu Abera, was third in 2:31:01.
Shalane Flanagan wins the half marathon in an impressive debut. © www.photorun.net
The half marathon, held in conjunction, also incorporated the U.S. championships with the titles going to Antonio Vega in 61:54 minutes and Shalane Flanagan. The 28-year-old surprise bronze medalist in the 10,000 meter at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 won in 69:41, breaking the course record and becoming the first woman to run under 1:10 hours in Houston. “I ran a solid, controlled race on an ideal day for that kind of performance,” was how Shalane Flanagan summed up her debut half marathon.
Deena Kastor Leads the Way in Phoenix
Another successful American woman was only two seconds slower than Shalane Flanagan on Sunday: Deena Kastor won the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Phoenix (Arizona) in 69:43. “This race shows my training has been going well,” said the 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist. Kastor wants to run the London Marathon in April. “Today was the first time for several years that I felt as I used to do when I was running,” she explained. The surprise winner of the men’s race in Phoenix was the Canadian, Simon Bairu, who finished in 62:47 to beat the favorite, Ryan Hall (USA/64:08). In the full marathon held in conjunction, Ethiopian athletes took both titles with Terefe Yae running 2:12:41 for the men’s win and Teyba Maser taking the women’s title in 2:30:39.
