Bazu Worku is the ninth Ethiopian in 10 years to win Chevron Houston Marathon men’s race.
Worku, Degefa give Ethiopia sweep; Huddle sets U.S. mark in women’s half-marathon
Familiar faces, familiar results. The near-freezing temperatures applied the brakes to all the runners Sunday morning, but the anticipated hierarchy largely held up in the Chevron Houston Marathon, with previous champions from Ethiopia prevailing, the now three-time winner Bazu Worku among the men and Biruktayit Degefa among the women.
Nor did the cold thwart Molly Huddle, who came to Houston targeting a significant record in the Aramco Half Marathon and left with same. Eleven Januarys after Ryan Hall ran through the city’s streets to post what remains the fastest half-marathon by an American anywhere, Huddle made H-town home to the best time by an American
woman, too.
Her time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 25 seconds blew away Deena Kastor’s 1:07:34, which had stood since 2006 and wasn’t seriously challenged until 2016. Huddle’s time wasn’t enough to give the 33-year-old from Rhode Island a shot at the overall victory — predictably, six East Africans finished ahead of her — but she sounded plenty satisfied with her milestone performance, which included U.S. women’s records for 10 miles and 20 kilometers as well. Hat trick! “That’s kind of cool to think about,” Huddle said. “These days don’t come around too often. The field was so deep, and the course was so fast. I was lucky to have a lot of fast women running around me. It was a little chillier than we thought it would be in Texans. When we got into the shadier part of the city, my legs got cold. It was on the cool side for sure. But it’s good to come away with something even if you don’t come away with the win.”
The competitor in Huddle made her determined to stay with the front-runners — she was part of the lead group with about 10 of the 13.1 miles completed — but reality finally bit, forcing her to concede the obvious.
“I’m not a 65 (minute) runner,” Huddle said.
Sarah Crouch, her countrywoman who crossed first among the American women in the marathon and was seventh overall in 2:35:22 after a surprising fifthplace effort last year, was seated next to her. Crouch smiled and responded, “Yet.”
House money
Actually, no woman approached 65 minutes under breezy conditions with the temperatures in the mid-30s throughout the race, making it one of the half-dozen chilliest days in the event’s 46-year history. Another Ethiopian, Ruti Aga, prevailed in 1:06:39, crossing nine seconds ahead of Kenya’s Caroline Chepkoech. But Aga destroyed her previous personal best — 1:08:07 — and produced the second-fastest women’s half in Houston, only 10 seconds off Kenyan Mary Wacera’s course record, set in 2016.
Aga said she was “very happy” and intended to apply her $20,000 first prize “to buying a house.”
Huddle, for her part, hopes to parlay this result into a headturning Boston Marathon effort. Challenging Kastor’s American woman’s marathon record of 2:19:36 becomes the next goal. But she also wanted to celebrate the moment, because knocking Kastor from the record books is a big deal.
“That it was Deena’s record makes this a really special thing,” Huddle said. “Deena has set the bar high for (American women).”
On a global scale, of course, it’s the Ethiopians and Kenyans who serve as the reference-standard long-distance runners. That’s why Jake Robertson moved from his native New Zealand to train in Kenya. His payoff Sunday would be the men’s half championship, claimed in a personal-best-tying 1:01, the third-fastest Aramco time in history.
Remarkably, he bested Ethiopia’s Guye Adola by 15 seconds. The 27-year-old Adola burst into prominence at the Berlin Marathon last September, when he challenged three of the most gifted runners of the day — Eliud Kipchoge, Wilson Kipsang and Kenenisa Bekele — and almost won, ultimately coming in second to Kipchoge with the fastest debut marathon in history — a 2:03:46. Adola has also done a half-marathon in 59:06.
“When I made my move,” Robertson said, “that was the first time I realized others were suffering. So I put the hammer down. If I keep going, I knew I could win the race. I’m ecstatic about winning against that kind of field.”
Ethiopia’s Worku, who won in 2013 and 2014, roared away from Yitayal Atnafu over the final mile of the marathon to clock a 2:08:31, joining Kenyan David Cheruiyot (2005-06, 2008) and countryman Stephen Ndungu (1998-2000) as the only three-time Houston champions.
Confident pursuit
Atnafu, the runner-up in 2017 as well to Kenya’s Dominic Ondoro, wound up crossing 37 seconds behind Worku despite holding a 39-second lead through 22 miles and a 23-second lead nearing downtown with the finish line at the George R. Brown Convention Center almost in sight.
But Worku admitted he thought Atnafu, a training partner and a man he knows well, personally and professionally, had gone out too hard too early and believed he would catch him eventually.
“If not for windy and cold weather, I think I could have done much better,” Worku said through an interpreter. “But after 35 kilometers (about 22 miles), I was putting much energy behind it.”
The 2016 Houston champion Degefa added a second cowboy hat — presented to the winners, naturally — to her collection, outlasting Belaynesh Oljira down the final stretch to finish in 2:24:52, good for a six-second gap.
Ethiopian women have won 12 consecutive times here, while Ethiopian men have prevailed nine times in 10 years, a run interrupted only by Ondoro last January.
“When I come to Houston, I feel a special joy,” said Degefa, who has competed here five years in a row. “I feel Houston is my hometown, as if I’m coming to a family. I come here very prepared. I knew that I would win today.”