Houston Half/Full Elite Fields Out -- Stacked Fields Per Usual

What da hecK wrote:

How did a 1:08 guy get into the elite field??!?!?!?

I think it is great when an Elite Athlete Coordinator gives a local runner a chance. How else do they get a chance to move up and improve?

Is it really Texas? wrote:

Half marathon fields are more interesting than the marathon fields, which look to be dominated by the second-tier Ethiopian marathoners who do not get into the Dubai marathon.

However, there is Kara Goucher in the women's marathon field, so I am curious about that. According to her IAAF and ARRS profiles, this will be her first race as a 40+ runner, and her first marathon since the 2016 OT. Has only raced once since then.

I am not so sure that the Ethiopians who come to race the full are those who do not get into Dubai. The Dubai field is often filled with a lot of cannon fodder runners who have marketable PRs but no recent successes. But in Houston, it seems like the Ethiopian managers send runners who they think are on the verge of a breakthrough. They use Houston as a stepping stone for the marathon majors. Deriba Merga, Dire Tune and other top Ethopians had well managed breakthrough races in Houston.

brud gadhsen wrote:

true brit wrote:

Karoki, Osaka, Kitata, wow!

Wasn't Jake Robertson meant to be returning to defend his title from last year?

I believe he is having issues with his lower leg.

This will be a shame if it's the case.....Robertson destroyed a superior field last year, was looking to see what he could do.

But they could've mistakenly left him off the list. I mean, Walmsley isn't there so your two race favorites aren't even in the "Elite" field.

I get to "race" Kitata? Awesome.

Goucher is "elite"?

Not My Real Screen Name wrote:

Going to be hard for Walmsley to win this thing since he isn't even on the elite entry list....

Very strange that he is not on the list since this is a press release from the race organizers and I would think that Walmsley is at least getting travel/hotel fot the race.

Oops. Just noticed this farther down the page after scrolling . . .

Athlete Development Program

The Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Marathon offers a limited number of runners a priority starting location on race day just behind the elite athlete field and in front of the masses. For the 2019 races, 158 athletes achieved the qualifying standard for this field for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon and 176 athletes achieved the qualifying time for the Chevron Houston Marathon. With the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials just a year away, we expect to see many of these athletes looking to obtain the standard for entry.

Jim Walmsley (Aramco Houston Half Marathon) ran away with the win at the 2018 Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run after infamously dropping out in 2016 after a wrong turn and again in 2017 after becoming ill on course. Many consider him to be the best ultra runner in the country but he toes the line in Houston to test his grit on the road, searching for an OTQ at the distance.

Jesse Chettle (Aramco Houston Half Marathon) had aspirations of moving up to the half marathon distance after setting PBs in the 5K (14:37), 3K (8:27) and Mile (4:08) until he was sidelined by a brain tumor. After surgery to remove the tumor, a scan showed a recurrence and for the past 18 months he has been treating it with his doctor. He toes the line in Houston to continue to work toward his dream.

To request interviews with any of these athletes please contact Senior Manager, Communications and Marketing – Muffy King at

muffy@houstonmarathon.com

JT20k! wrote:

What da hecK wrote:

How did a 1:08 guy get into the elite field??!?!?!?

I think it is great when an Elite Athlete Coordinator gives a local runner a chance. How else do they get a chance to move up and improve?

On the flip side, it takes a spot from people like me, who have run 64low in smaller races and have few opportunities to go 63. I was denied entry into the race.

Otq hopeful wrote:

JT20k! wrote:

I think it is great when an Elite Athlete Coordinator gives a local runner a chance. How else do they get a chance to move up and improve?

On the flip side, it takes a spot from people like me, who have run 64low in smaller races and have few opportunities to go 63. I was denied entry into the race.

I am not sure but I think the 1:08 guy got in as an "elite" local. I can't imagining him or her entry otherwise. It is great that they allow some of the better local runners entry in to the race. Get your time down 2 minutes and you will be allowed entry too!

Supertramp wrote:

Patrick Tiernan is in it wrote:

Patrick Tiernan in the half field, very interesting.

That is super interesting. Is anyone else surprised that he has moved to the roads and half? Or is he still primarily on the track?

It’s hard to say. He did run 3:57, 7:37, 13:13 and 27:29 in 2017, so it’s definitely kind of weird seeing him run half marathons all of a sudden. He’s only 24, so hopefully this is just for training and not a fully serious move yet. We shall see

SAlly V wrote:

Otq hopeful wrote:

On the flip side, it takes a spot from people like me, who have run 64low in smaller races and have few opportunities to go 63. I was denied entry into the race.

I am not sure but I think the 1:08 guy got in as an "elite" local. I can't imagining him or her entry otherwise. It is great that they allow some of the better local runners entry in to the race. Get your time down 2 minutes and you will be allowed entry too!

I'm not local from Houston. I'm from La Puente, CA and moved to SLO to run with the Aggies. I ran my 68:01 at a pretty hard course in San Luis Obispo. lol like I said, don't be salty!

PrZ wrote:

Supertramp wrote:

That is super interesting. Is anyone else surprised that he has moved to the roads and half? Or is he still primarily on the track?

It’s hard to say. He did run 3:57, 7:37, 13:13 and 27:29 in 2017, so it’s definitely kind of weird seeing him run half marathons all of a sudden. He’s only 24, so hopefully this is just for training and not a fully serious move yet. We shall see

Looking forward to this race!!

I don't think it's uncommon for some track guys to try out an early season (January/Feb/March) half. Think Ben True running the NYC half last spring. You want to be in peak track shape by the summer. A lot of pros are base building and doing long tempos right now. Why not take a crack at a half and see what you can do off of pure strength? It might give those runners an indication of whether or not they are suited to the longer distances.

Uncertain if Jake is injured but his instagram has been quiet of actual training posts. Zane, however, raced on New Years Eve. If I recall Jake was a last minute entry last year. I would expect some drops and some additions. There must also be a ton of domestic runners in the 1:04-1:08ish range not listed. This race is always deep and there will be a lot of folks going for the standard.

Why is Lagat listed as having Kenyan nationality? Is this a slight to his recent 3:27 1500m "american record" or is he done representing USA for good now?

AR holding Kenyan wrote:

Why is Lagat listed as having Kenyan nationality? Is this a slight to his recent 3:27 1500m "american record" or is he done representing USA for good now?

Is it the same Bernard Lagat? I remember a thread a while back where someone pointed out how there were like 3 different Kenyans with the same first and last names that all had similar marathon PRs.

HahaRiiiiiiight wrote:

brud gadhsen wrote:

I believe he is having issues with his lower leg.

This will be a shame if it's the case.....Robertson destroyed a superior field last year, was looking to see what he could do.

But they could've mistakenly left him off the list. I mean, Walmsley isn't there so your two race favorites aren't even in the "Elite" field.

Bedan Karoki has only been beaten in a half by Kamworor. He is unlikely to lose to Robertson.

Where is Ben Barrows?!

SAlly V wrote:

Otq hopeful wrote:

On the flip side, it takes a spot from people like me, who have run 64low in smaller races and have few opportunities to go 63. I was denied entry into the race.

I am not sure but I think the 1:08 guy got in as an "elite" local. I can't imagining him or her entry otherwise. It is great that they allow some of the better local runners entry in to the race. Get your time down 2 minutes and you will be allowed entry too!

I think it was mentioned that one of those 1:08's ran 2:16 for a full marathon and, I think, the other 1:08 has run 14 min and 29 mid for 5k/10K (so close to 1:05 equivalent). There also was the ADP program that added significantly more runners with waived entry. So it seems the RD put plenty of emphasis on getting a wide range of elite runners in. My guess is if the one runner who ran 64 mid for a half, didn't get a waived entry it happened because they either tried too late (date wise) or the times could not be verified - as there were lots of runners with similar times and slower that managed to get assistance. Either that or they somehow managed to offend someone in the entry process.

hey Tommy Rivers Puzey is in there, good to see, always entertaining to watch

has he otq yet for 2020 or is this his first attempt

nope doesn't appear in the usatf list yet, good luck Puzey!

he's still with altra right so probably doing the full in escalantes, should be interesting

dklaldk wrote:

Goucher is "elite"?

Are you so stupid you don't know why she is listed as elite?