The Aramco Houston Half announced today that Olympic silver medallist Meb Keflzeghi will be contesting the US Half Marathon Champs next weekend in Houston.
Meb will be aiming for the $12,000 first prize but will have to defeat Dan Browne and Brian Sell. Excerpts from press release below:
"In the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, many of the top runners in the U.S. will compete for bragging rights at the half marathon distance in national championship races for men and women. Headlining the men’s field are 2004 Olympic marathon silver medalist Mebrahtom Keflezighi and defending U.S. half marathon champ Brian Sell, who won in Houston last year in a personal best of 1:02:39. Sell is expected to be challenged by 2005 half marathon title winner Dan Browne, as well as Ryan Shay, Brandon Leslie and Jason Lehmkuhle.
Colleen DeReuck, who won the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 2004, along with Elva Dryer, Jenny Crain, Kate O’Neill, Beth Old and Zoila Gomez are among the top women scheduled to run."
For more on the 2007 USA Road Champs see http://www.letsrun.com/2007/2007usa.php
Meb Running Houston Half Next Weekend
Report Thread
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wejo,
I dont think there is an 8k for women. Your first paragraph in your release says (men and women) -
Acording to USATF website, it should say men and women's 10K and men's 8K.
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No - the women's 10k has been at Tufts for years. The men's 10k was in Mobile for several years at Food Bowl, but they lost sponsorship in 2006, so the National Championships 10k was not held. NYRR held the 8k for men and women in 2005. In 2006 NYRR hosted the National Cross Country instead. In 2007 they bid on the men's 8k to host the National Championships, and also to give an opportunity for the men to preview the Olympic Trials course.
So Wejo is correct that for men in 2007 the 8k and 10k are back. -
this statement is not correct:
"The good news is that the 8k championships (for men and women) and the men's 10k championships are back on the schedule."
there is no womens 8k -
Okay we agree more or less - the headline is correct on the front page but the text on the press release is wrong in that it states a women's 8k when there is none. So Wejo is half right and half wrong.
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who will win - Meb or Sell????
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If Meb is ready, Houston is an AR course.
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the record is still curp's from twenty plus years ago, right? something like 1:00:55? it's about time that one went down.
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sorry, but houston is not that fast a course. rolling hills and turns the first 5 miles. and is he going to run sub 61 all by himself from the gun. i think not.
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no 8k for women wrote:
wejo,
I dont think there is an 8k for women. Your first paragraph in your release says (men and women)
You are correct. I thought I double checked the list, but must not have. I guess I just assumed that since there was an 8k for men and women in 2005 they were both back this year. I'll make the correction. Thanks for pointing it out. -
It was the same course when the record was set, and Meb is a hell of a lot better than Curp. He handles "rolling" just fine.
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Curp's 1:00:55 is from Philly, which is certainly not a rolling course. I would be surprised with all the major competitors coming back from fall marathons if anyone is ready to break 1:01. Not to mention if they are not in optimum shape the chances of it becoming tactical inrease significantly.
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Even in optimal shape, none of the runners mentioned, other than Meb, would appear to be a sub-61 half-marathoner. To me, it's just a question of whether Meb is ready and willing to time-trial a sub-61. I don't doubt that he's capable of breaking Curp's record, but I wonder if there is sufficient incentive to do it in Houston.
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does meb like cash? there's certainly an economic incentive to do it. the question, as you point out, is whether he's physically ready to do it. i know he's in pretty good shape right now - hasn't had any interruptions in training. i don't think he needs to be in top shape (as he would be closer to london) to break the record but he'd have to be pretty close. should be interesting to see the result from next weekend.
