“They came, they ran and they won.”
That is what aptly describes the dominance of Ethiopians, Kenyans and Eritreans at the annual Houston Chevron Marathon for the last decade
On Sunday January 19th, 2014 the Houston Marathon celebrated 42 years of the event which has and will continue to see runners from all over the world assemble to run in one of the worlds and Texas’ most prestigious and elite marathon race.
The race which also doubled as the official trial for the USA Men and Women’s Half Marathon Championships attracted elite US athletes looking to make the cut for international representation of the USA in the international circuit, as well as top level marathoners from all over the world, especially from the hot bed of distance running in East Africa.
Ethiopia has been more than well represented at the Houston Chevron Marathon and they have in fact come to own the event in both men’s and women’s categories; having won consecutive titles in the past few years.
There has yet to be strong contingent of Kenyan’s at the event and until such a time, the Ethiopian runners will continue to enjoy sole dominance of the Houston Marathon.
On Sunday January 19th, at exactly 7 am over 5000 runners took off from the start line jostling for position to create space and get in a comfortable running posture. 20 minutes on in the race, the elite athlete started separating themselves from the average runners most of whom were just there to participate for the fun of it or running for a cause.
There was a lot more at stake for the elite runner as some were gunning for glory to represent the USA in international competitions and some were there strictly to make a living gunning for the cash prize payoffs which is a cool$40,000 per winner in both men’s and women’s categories.
Exactly two minutes and some seconds removed from an hour later the legendary Meb Keflezighi, a naturalized US citizen from Eritrea crossed the finish line. Keflezighi is a dominant world class distance runner who was made his home in the USA and a name for himself among distance running enthusiasts. He would finish the half Marathon with a time of 1:02:56 sprinting down the home stretch to take the Aramco half marathon and US title.
He would be followed by the women’s winner of the half marathon; Serene Burla, a cancer survivor who won with a time of 1:10:48, securing the US title as well.
With the focus shifted from the half marathon it was now time to see who would cross the line first in the full marathon as the TV feeds showed and reported the position of the runners at every stage in a very closely contested race between the Ethiopian men and women as well.
Two (2) hours later barely short of the course record Bazu Worku of Ethiopia who had won last years (2013) Houston Marathon title setting a course record at 2:06.50 crossed the line in sprint leaving countryman Getachew Terfa behind him. He won with a time of 2: 07:32 with Terfa not far off in 2:07:54.
In the women’s category it was a sweep for Ethiopia as they crossed the line in 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions with Abebech Bekele winning with a time of 2:25:52 followed by Meskerem Assefa In a time of 2:25:59.
On the sidelines were throngs of naturalized and immigrant Ethiopians cheering their countrymen and women up. The Houston Chevron Marathon can easily be described as the Ethiopian Marathon and all for the right reasons because of the dominance of the East Africans at the event.
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