He’s right on time
Late entry pays for winner of men’s half-marathon.
Jake Robertson, the new Aramco Half Marathon champion, didn’t know for sure he would be running in Houston until a week ago, when race organizers finally confirmed they had a spot for him.
He had made a late December decision to get into the field here.
“I was a little bit overdone — I was still in hard training,” Robertson said. “I paid out of my own pocket to (fly) business class so I could sleep a bit. It was worth it.”
He earned $20,000 for his win so at least that expense was covered. But he won’t leave town completely satisfied.
“I was hoping for a course record,” said Robertson, a New Zealander who has lived and trained in Kenya for more than a decade, reasoning that to compete with the best he has to work with the best. “But early on, when we got some slow K’s and after that I was just trying to win the race.”
He also failed to post a personal best. His time of 1 hour, 1 second tied his previous best.
“Everybody keeps reminding me of that,” Robertson said, laughing, “so I’m getting more and more upset about it.”
The unexpectedly cold weather was an issue for all the runners. In Kenya, Robertson does his hardest training when the temperatures are in the low to mid-40s. It was 34 degrees at the 7 a.m. start Sunday.
“We train in Africa at altitude, and it gets cold there but not quite as brisk as this,” Robertson said. “The muscles, especially the hamstrings, almost cramp so getting to that top gear … you almost get stuck.”
Given’s personal best bodes well for 2020
By becoming the fastest American finisher in the Chevron Houston Marathon with a personal-best 2:15:52, placing him sixth overall, Wilkerson
Given closed a circle of sorts Sunday.
After the Birmingham, Ala., native and Furman University graduate took a job as a regional marketing and sales manager for SOS Hydration, which makes electrolyte replacement drinks, he wound up moving to The Woodlands and training with Team Green Running. That’s Green as in Danny
Green, who won the inaugural Houston Marathon at 24 in 1972.
“I’d heard good things about him,” Given said. “The Woodlands High School program is nationally known.”
Green had a long and successful tenure as Highlanders coach, winning 16 state championships in cross country and track and field.
Given finished the Houston course nearly 12 minutes faster than he had run in the 2016 U. S. Olympic Marathon Trials. He obviously is gunning to make the U.S. team for the 2020 Summer Games at Tokyo.
“I had a good buildup and was able to go out and execute today,” he said, adding that his goal had been “maybe closer to 2:17.”
Crouch’s time better despite lower finish
Sarah Crouch had high expectations for herself Sunday after placing fifth in the marathon a year ago and ultimately, although she dropped to seventh this time, she ran a faster time, crossing in 2:35:22 compared to the 2:38:37 she posted in far warmer, more humid conditions in 2017.
But early on, things weren’t looking so rosy.
“At one point, I thought I’d have to drop out,” Crouch said, blaming digestive issues caused, she surmised, by taking in too much air with her water. “But everything settled down and I felt fine at the end.”
She noted that this was the first “big marathon” in which she has been the American standard-bearer, saying, “I’d always been the bridesmaid, never the bride. That’s what’s going to stick with me.”
Attar making strides with every race run
Every time Sarah Attar runs a personal best, which she did with a 1:26:47 in the half-marathon, she also sets a national record.
Attar is the only elite female runner to represent Saudi Arabia and, as a 19-year-old in London in 2012, she became famous for becoming one of the first two women to represent the country in the Olympics, competing in the 800 meters. The IOC had threatened to ban the Saudis if the country did not send women to the Games.
“There was a lot of backlash at the time,” she said. But, when she crossed the finish line, “I had a standing ovation of, like, 80,000 people. Not only was my country supporting me, but I had global support. There has been a lot of positivity around what I’m doing.”
Attar, 25, has an uncle who works for race sponsor Aramco, although that had nothing to do with her entering the Houston race. Andrew Castor, the husband of Attar’s coach Deena Castor of the Mammoth, Calif., Track Club, suggested Houston would be a good test at several levels as she prepares — hopefully — to compete in the marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
“It’s been a very powerful experience,” she said of running and of being included in the Houston field. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity. It’s allowed me to inspire people, to connect with the world. ”
Having grown up in Southern California, Attar has dual citizenship.