The American men's half marathon record is a joke and top Americans need to travel abroad to break it

10k at peak performance is often a better predictor of half marathon performance, which is why I am using that as a predictor rather than our top marathon guys, who often tend to be track guys past their peak or post-college guys that couldn't get a track contract.

Hall's half marathon record was exceptional at the time, as were some of his marathon performances. I don't mean to knock his accomplishments. What's a joke to me is how this record has stood so long (over 16 years now). We have the shoe technology, training improvements, fast enough runners, fast courses, and deep competition to pull them along to break the record in the right environment. But our top distance guys don't follow the lead of other top track athletes and some of our American women by taking risks and chasing a record.

I can’t wait for the day the men’s record goes down - mostly because of posts from Ryan and Sara Hall mentioning shoe tech that were clearly absent when they celebrated Sara’s short-lived HM record in Houston last year.

It's not hypocritical - it'd be stupid to not wear current shoe tech now. Mentioning that he didn't have the supershoes when he ran the AR is a true and relevant statement.

I also want the record to go down but only because 59:43 should be considered weak with supershoes as the OP made the case for. Doing runner to runner comparisons, it's even conceivable that Fisher could go sub-58 and knock nearly 2 minutes off.

When's the last time American man took aim at the record? I know Mantz did at USA half marathon championships right after college, but no way he was going to break it there under those conditions.

Have any top Americans even attempted a fast half on a fast course with pacers in the past 5 years?

Rupp's attempt in Italy was in 2018, so technically 5 years ago. He also qualified for the Olympic Marathon Trials in that staged race in Oregon in 2020. Lenny Korir took a couple stabs at it in New Delhi, of all places. Maybe some guys that raced Houston in the past few years were attempting record pace but the results weren't close.

Thanks. I got most of my best track times there. Splits weren't called in English. If I'd been able to understand them I'd probably have thought I was running too fast but because I didn't know my pace I concentrated on not being last and got pulled to better times than I'd done.

It seems our top runners rarely race. I'd love to see more doing more 10K-1/2 marathons.

I think a lot of what's going on here is that getting the half marathon record is just not much of a priority among runners who might be able to get it. There's not usually the "pay off," and I don't mean financial, though that too, for running a fast half marathon. Run a really fast marathon or 10,000 and you position yourself to run in the Olympics or Worlds. That's a good pay off. Nothing like that goes on with the half marathon.

It's not their priority. Not speaking for Grant Fisher or others but running a fast Half Marathon is not the priority or any road racing as far as that goes. Priority is world championships and Diamond league

I see your point but how many Americans out there aren't making championships or running Diamond League and can benefit financially from a fast 1/2 marathon PR and the money from the road race circuit.

This might be true for the track guys in Woody/Klecker/Kincaid/Chelimo (though he dabbles) and it applies to XC too. It should not be true for the marathoners like Mantz, Young, Fauble and so on. That really is the disconnect.

Because they’d get continually exposed as being the B-Team on the world stage.

American “Professional” distance running is a joke and barely a sport.

Good take. A fast half marathon just opens the doors to get elite entry into fast marathons, something that can already happen for Americans well above the AR. For a Kenyan, a sub one hour time might be needed to get invitied to London or NY, but for Americans, they might get an invite with a time several mins slower, maybe 62 or 63 low (or even slower without a big appearance fee).

All roads in America are potholes?

I would also argue that Hall was better suited to the half-marathon than the full, but for the purposes of making a career as a professional runner, the marathon made the most sense.

Haha. I realized when I got there that mile markers were unlikely on the course. I had to calculate my goal time in min/km and did a couple runs with that setting on my watch. And then during the race, the auto lap was nearly useless because the GPS signal would jump around amongst the buildings. So basically I went by feel and made sure my splits every 5k were on track. Then in the last 2-3 km, made sure to just let it all loose. Might have helped because I was more focused on feel and racing rather than a slave to the watch.

Have no fear. I will be taking it down next year.

Houston Half Marathon has the potential for a men's AR record (already had a women's AR). Kitwara ran 59:22 at Houston (before supershoes). The course has a few little hills on underpasses in the last mile or two, but is otherwise very fast. And the course has changed since Hall's AR to eliminate a bridge on the first mile out of downtown. Main factor is temps and wind. Houston always is very generous with US athlete support for the half and will have pacers for an AR if someone wants them. Runners get bussed to the start line from their hotel and have lots of support (food, massage, etc.).