Defending Champions Return to Mark 50th Anniversary of Chevron Houston Marathon

HOUSTON (Jan. 6, 2022) – With 194,039 finishers having run 5,083,822 miles since the first Chevron Houston Marathon, the race will mark its 50th anniversary on January 16.

“When 113 runners lined up in 1972 to run loops in Memorial Park, no one would have predicted the marathon would have a Golden Anniversary at all, much less with a field of 28,000 celebrating on the streets of Houston,” said Houston Marathon Committee Executive Director Wade Morehead. “Led by some of the top marathoners and half marathoners in the world, we’re looking forward to a great day in the history of the race and the city.”

Returning to defend their Chevron Houston Marathon titles from 2020 – only a virtual race was held last year because of Covid – are Askale Merachi and Kelkile Gezahegn, both of Ethiopia. Making her seventh-consecutive appearance will be three-time champion Biruktayit Eshetu Degefa, who will renew her quest to become the race’s first four-time winner after finishing as runner-up to Merachi last year.

Among the Americans worth watching are Keira D’Amato and Frank Lara. D’Amato comes to Houston with a personal best of 2:22:56 and could challenge the 10-year-old course record of 2:23:14, while Lara – the 2014 Gatorade Boys’ High School Cross Country Runner of the Year out of Strake Jesuit College Prep – returns home to Houston to make his marathon debut.

Dan Green, the first winner in 1972, will serve as honorary starter, along with other members of the race’s Hall of Fame. In addition to marking its 50th anniversary, the race will serve as the first qualifier for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon, with its newly-toughened standards of 2:18 for men and 2:37 for women.

The Aramco Houston Half Marathon, run concurrently with the marathon, will be headlined by Kenya’s Vicoty Chepngeno and American Sara Hall. Chepngeno set her personal best of 1:07:22 in winning the Philadelphia Half Marathon last November, while Hall is the sixth-fastest woman in U.S. history at the half marathon and second-fastest in the marathon. On the men’s side, the fastest time in the field belongs to Shadrack Kimining Korir, who returns to Houston after finishing third here in 2020 in a personal best of 59:27.

This year, the elite fields for the two races will feature athletes representing 16 countries: the U.S., Kenya, Ethiopia, Mexico, Great Britain, Japan, Bulgaria, Guatemala, Peru, Eritrea, South Africa, Morocco, New Zealand, Canada, Israel and Australia.

The Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon will be broadcast on ABC-13 from 7 a.m.-10 a.m., with a race day recap at 10:35 p.m. Joining ABC-13’s Greg Bailey and Gina Gaston as expert commentator will be Des Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon winner and 50K world-record holder. Linden made the first of her two U.S. Olympic Marathon teams in Houston in 2012.

The full fields:


CHEVRON HOUSTON MARATHON – MEN

Name

Citizenship

Personal Best

Kelkile Gezahegn

ETH

2:05:56

John Langat

KEN

2:07:11

Kenta Uchida

JPN

2:08:12

Abdi Abdo

BHR

2:08:32

Elisha Barno

KEN

2:09:32

Tariku Bekele

KEN

2:09:33

Augustus Maiyo

USA

2:10:47

Jesus Arturo Esparza

MEX

2:11:04

Birhanu Kemal Dare

ETH

2:12:21

Tyler Jermann

USA

2:12:40

Mike Sayenko

USA

2:13:00

Josh Izewski

USA

2:13:15

Mike Chesire

KEN

2:13:28

Carlos Trujillo

GTM

2:14:21

Frank Lara

USA

Debut

James Ngandu

KEN

Debut

Luke Caldwell

GBR

Debut


CHEVRON HOUSTON MARATHON – WOMEN

Name

Citizenship

Personal Best

Atsede Baysa

ETH

2:22:03

Biruktayit Eshetu Degefa

ETH

2:22:40

Keira D’Amato

USA

2:22:56

Askale Merachi

ETH

2:23:29

Roberta Groner

USA

2:29:09

Kathya Mirell Garcia Barrios

MEX

2:34:46

Militsa Mircheva

BGR

2:35:03

Grace Gonzales

USA

2:41:55

Molly Bookmyer

USA

2:44:07

Tsige Haileslase

ETH

Debut

Maggie Montoya

USA

Debut

Emily Kearney

GBR

Debut

Alice Wright

GBR

Debut


ARAMCO HOUSTON HALF MARATHON – MEN

Name

Citizenship

Personal Best

Shadrack Kimining Korir

KEN

0:59:27

Wilfred Kimitei

KEN

0:59:40

Milkesa Mengesha

ETH

0:59:48

Raymond Magut

USA

1:00:00

Bayelign Teshager

ETH

1:00:31

Tsegay Tuemay

ERI

1:00:50

Patrick Tiernan

AUS

1:01:22

Reed Fischer

USA

1:01:37

Rory Linkletter

CAN

1:01:44

Reid Buchanan

USA

1:01:45

Colin Mickow

USA

1:01:47

Matt Llano

USA

1:01:47

Harvey Nelson

USA

1:01:48

John Raneri

USA

1:01:51

Brogan Austin

USA

1:01:52

Zouhair Talbi

MAR

1:02:00

John Korir

KEN

1:02:21

Andrew Colley

USA

1:02:24

Daniel Kemoi

KEN

1:02:27

David Bett

KEN

1:02:31

Sydney Gidabuday

USA

1:02:32

Kevin Lewis

USA

1:02:48

Lawi Lalang

USA

1:02:49

Matthew Leach

GBR

1:02:57

Scott Fauble

USA

1:02:18

Ben Flanagan

CAN

1:03:19

Biya Simbassa

USA

1:03:28

Zachary Hine

USA

1:03:54

Josh Lunn

GBR

1:04:26

John Dressel

USA

Debut

Kirubel Erassa

USA

Debut


ARAMCO HOUSTON HALF MARATHON – WOMEN

Name

Citizenship

Personal Best

Vicoty Chepngeno

KEN

1:07:22

Monicah Ngige

KEN

1:07:29

Sara Hall

USA

1:08:58

Caren Maiyo

KEN

1:09:20

Sarah Pagano

USA

1:09:41

Emily Durgin

USA

1:09:47

Maegan Krifchin

USA

1:09:51

Andrea Ramirez Limon

MEX

1:10:20

Dominique Scott

ZAF

1:10:42

Elaina Tabb

USA

1:10:44

Nell Rojas

USA

1:10:45

Julia Griffey

USA

1:11:04

Emily Setlack

CAN

1:11:41

Dakotah Lindwurm

USA

1:11:43

Maor Tiyouri

ISR

1:11:50

Paige Stoner

USA

1:11:53

Kelsey Bruce

USA

1:12:16

Bridget Belyeu

USA

1:12:31

Maddie Van Beek

USA

1:12:51

Bria Wetsch

USA

1:14:24

Maya Weigel

USA

1:14:38

Isgah Cheruto

KEN

1:14:48

Tristin Van Ord

USA

1:15:44

Annie Frisbie

USA

1:15:48

Whitney Macon

USA

1:16:29

Andrea Guerra

USA

1:17:31

Jessica Judd

GBR

Debut

Fiona O’Keeffe

USA

Debut

Maddie Alm

USA

Debut

Hannah Miller

NZL

Debut

 

About the Houston Marathon Committee, Inc.
Established in 1972, the Houston Marathon Committee, Inc. (HMC) is a founding member of Running USA and annually organizes the nation’s premier winter marathon, half-marathon and 5K. Over 300,000 participants, volunteers and spectators make Chevron Houston Marathon Race Day the largest single-day sporting event in Houston. Recognized by World Athletics, the Elite Label Chevron Houston Marathon has been the race site for three U.S. Olympic Trials Marathons and the Elite Label Aramco Houston Half Marathon has held 16 U.S. Half Marathon Championships. For eight consecutive years, the events have garnered Gold Certification from the Council of Responsible Sport and were also awarded the 2015 AIMS Green Award for industry-leading sustainability initiatives. Race Weekend generates over $50 million in economic impact for the region annually. In addition to its economic impact, the HMC facilitates social responsibility through its Run for a Reason Charity Program which has raised over $33 million since its inception and the Houston Marathon Foundation, which serves the greater Houston area through support of youth and community organizations that promote access to and participation in running. The event is televised annually with 2016 being the first time the race received national and international syndication airing on ESPN3 and the Longhorn Network.

For more information, visit www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com.