Emily Sisson Runs Second Fastest American Half Ever 67:30!!!!

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Congrats Emily!

Our analysis of the race is now up (link at the bottom of this post).

Here is what we wrote about Sisson.

Quick Take: Some people are just made for the roads. Emily Sisson is one of them.

Sisson’s camp was very high on her chances before today’s race, with her coach Ray Treacy predicting a sub-68:00 and her training partner Molly Huddle saying she wouldn’t be surprised if she broke the American record (67:25). Turns out Treacy and Huddle knew what they were talking about as Sisson have Huddle’s record a serious scare and wound up becoming the second-fastest US half marathoner of all time (record-eligible course).

Sisson went out slowly, ran a very hard 10k in the middle, but slowed down just enough over the final 5k+ to miss the record.

Sisson’s splits

5k: 16:09

10k: 31:49 (15:40)

15k: 47:48 (15:59)

20k: 64:03 (16:15)

Some women, such as Jordan Hasay and Paula Radcliffe, are just made to run long distances on the roads. For a long time, we’ve believed that Sisson was one of them as that’s what Treacy told us in April of 2015, and she proved it today.

Consider this stat. Sisson’s 10,000m personal best is 31:25. Today, she split 31:39 between 5k and 15k (a flat section of the course), her fastest ever 10k on the roads (she had run five 10ks on the roads before today, none faster than 31:47).

What does this mean for Sisson’s future? Well for starters, it means that there will be a ton of hype surrounding her marathon debut in London in April. We were excited in 2017 when Jordan Hasay ran 68:40 and 67:55 in the leadup to her debut in Boston, and she delivered by running 2:23:00, the fastest debut ever by an American. Now Sisson is debuting on a faster course with a significantly faster PR in the half.

Second, it makes her a contender for the 2020 Olympic Trials in the marathon. Last summer, we predicted the 2020 Olympic team in the distance events and pencilled in Sisson in the 10,000. We said that only five women had a shot in the marathon: Huddle, Shalane Flanagan, Amy Cragg, Jordan Hasay, and Des Linden. Here’s what we wrote:

Sisson is a classic grinder and while her best event may one day be the marathon, the marathon is too loaded right now for her to try to make the 2020 team. If she sticks in the 10k, however, she should nab a spot as it’s not a particularly deep event domestically.

The latter part remains true: the 10k is her best spot to make the team. But Sisson’s half marathon performance today shows that she certainly belongs in the marathon discussion — despite never having raced over 26.2 miles. No disrespect to women such as Kellyn Taylor, Laura Thweatt, and Sara Hall, who are successful, experienced marathoners, but talent trumps all. Sisson has the upside to compete with the likes of Cragg, Hasay, and Huddle on her best day. The others do not.

Even if Sisson doesn’t make the Olympic team in the marathon, she’s good enough that she could bounce back and likely make the team in the 10,000 on the track.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/01/shura-kitata-6011-and-brigid-kosgei-6550-win-at-2019-houston-half-as-emily-sisson-6730-just-misses-ar/

We have another article now up on Houston that has some quotes from Sisson from David Monti.

I know she only ran 72 minutes today, but the trials are OVER a year away, I still expect Sally Kipyego to be a MAJOR FACTOR in the Trials either in the Marathon or 10000, I would not count her out.

Agreed. If we don’t start seeing some better performances in the 10,000m on the track or shorter roads by June or July then we can start to worry.

So what? Des ran 1:14 in Louisiana and she drinks whiskey and crowd surfs.

Was surprised with LRC’s hot take a while back that’s Sisson shouldn’t go for the marathon team. Nobody else is running 67-mid except for Huddle. And you wrote that when Sisson had already clocked a 68-low & has been tearing up the roads.

If I recall Huddle went out a little faster and paid the price last year in Houston. She probably could have run 67-low or 66-high with different pacing. Sisson probably went a little too hard too early but ran about right. I think Huddle still holds a slight edge over her. Both should be targeting 2:21-2:23. I almost think Molly is selling herself short when she said 2:22-23. On the right day I can see her getting close to 2:20-flat. I think she was in 67-flat shape last year. That comes about to about 2:20. 67 x 2 + 6:00.

For what it’s worth, Huddle’s 30:13 shows potential for 1:06-mid & 2:19-low. I think the 2:22-23 talk is selling herself short. I’d like to see her and Emily go out in around 70 minutes in London.

If anyone is looking at the splits and thinking her pacing was off, look at what the wind was doing and the course layout. first 5k was a side wind, slightly headwind. 2nd 5k was with the wind, so should be the quickest one. 3rd 5k was a side wind but blocked by houses and trees, so not really anything at all, 4th 5k was straight into the wind of about 8-10mph, fairly strong at points with gusts up to 15mph. That's why her 4th 5k was a little slower.

Good info there, thanks. I think my bottom line was that I'm excited for Emily's debut & Molly's chance to run fast. I think they can run under 2:22-2:23!

Course Layout wrote:

If anyone is looking at the splits and thinking her pacing was off, look at what the wind was doing and the course layout. first 5k was a side wind, slightly headwind. 2nd 5k was with the wind, so should be the quickest one. 3rd 5k was a side wind but blocked by houses and trees, so not really anything at all, 4th 5k was straight into the wind of about 8-10mph, fairly strong at points with gusts up to 15mph. That's why her 4th 5k was a little slower.

I ran the race on Sunday and wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. I thought her splits were perfect. Miles 8.5 to 11.0 were brutal, straight into the wind. She averaged 16:00 per 5k for the entire race but ran 16:16 for the 15k-20k stretch, which is super impressive.

When will an American break into the top 25 all time? 66:05 for women and 58:59 men.

Top25please wrote:

When will an American break into the top 25 all time? 66:05 for women and 58:59 men.

Maybe never. Granted, the AR for the women's half marathon should be sub-67, but I don't see it as being much faster than than maybe 66:45 in the next ten+ years. Likewise, the AR for men is not going under 59:20 any time soon. For US women, a top 50 mark would be an ultimate goal and for men a top 100 mark would be comparable. There's so much depth for men it's insane. 59:11 ties you for 55th and then 59:22 ties you for 104th.