By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used by permission.
HOUSTON (Jan. 19) — Conner Mantz and Wayne Kelati set new American records at the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon on a chilly and windy morning here. Mantz, 28, the reigning USATF marathon champion, broke Ryan Hall’s legendary record of 59. 43 that was set here in 2007 by running 59:17 and nearly winning the race overall, the 28-year-old Kelati broke her record of 1:06:25, set here a year ago, with a 1:06:09.
“Today was a special day,” said Mantz, who was second to Addisu Gobena of Ethiopia (both athletes were given the same time). “My coach, Ed Eistone, prepared me well.”
Mantz made his intentions known right from the gun at 6:45 a.m. With the Black Watch hood down, Mantz was tucked away behind Kenyan and Gobena pacesetter Amon Kembo, Tanzania’s Gabriel Gaye and Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimmer, the two-time race champion here.
Kemboi did a great job to lead the contenders through 5km in 14:02 and 10km in 28:01, just short of the pace required to beat Feisa Lelisa’s record of 59:22 set in 2012.
Although Kemboi dropped off just after 10-K, the pace remained strong until 15-K.The third 5-kilometer leg was clocked at 14:04, and Gobena made great progress.
Remarkably, the four stayed together until the final kilometer and it was only inside the final 200 meters that Gobena and Mantz had a head-to-head sprint. pass him.” As the two raced toward the narrow finish tape, Gobena veered slightly to the left, squeezing Manzi, who almost ran into one of the tape handles, was declared the winner by the officials, and the two athletes hugged after the finish.
“I was thrilled to be able to run with all those runners,” said Gobena, who won $15,000 in prize money. “I was thrilled to be able to compete with such great athletes.”
En route to his record, Mantz split 42:05 for 15 miles, 45:16 for 10 miles, and 56:23 for 20 miles, all of which are current national records.
“This is a record I really wanted,” Mantz said, looking a little shocked. “I want to get it down on the road.”
Moving down the order of finish, Gay finished third in 59:18, Yimmer fourth in 59:20 and Great Britain’s Patrick Dever fifth in 1:00:11.
In the women’s race, Kelati also set pending American records in the 15 mile (46:32), 10 mile (50:05) and 20 mile (1:02:43).
“The goal is to run hard right from the start (and) that’s what I did,” said Kelati, who said stomach problems almost derailed his race today.
Like Mantz, Kelati finished second.Ethiopian Senayet Getachev overtook Kelati by 5 seconds to finish in 1:06:05 for the $15,000 first prize.
“The race was perfect, very hard,” Getachew said through a translator. “I’ve never run in weather like this.”
Mantz and Kelati took home $18,000, including $8,000 for second place and $10,000 for setting new national records.
The Chevron Houston Marathon lacked the fireworks of the half, but it was still an exciting race.The men’s elite team came out conservatively in 1:04:17, keeping ten men in contention, including Israel’s Hymro Alame, Eritrea’s Yemane Hailselassie, and Kenya’s Shadrack Kimining.
Haileselassie, who won the Honolulu Marathon last month, surged past the 30-K, running the 5-kilometer segment between 30 and 35-K in 14:49, which was fast for most of the pack and set up a three-way battle between Alame, Haileselassie and Kimining past 40-K Alame jumped and fled For the win in 2:08:17, he won $50,000 in prize money.
“In the beginning it was slower because it was very cold, so the only option was to save everything for the finishing shot,” said Alame, holding an Israeli flag.
Haileselassie was second in 2:08:25, Kimining was third in 2:08:29 and France’s Hugo Taupiac was fourth in 2:08:50.Christian Allen was the top American in seventh in 2:10:32 : His time was the fastest ever by an American male in Houston.
In the women’s division of the marathon, Kumesh Sinhala from Ethiopia lost to compatriot Tsige Haileslase and Erica Kemp from the United States at the 26th kilometer. She had only men to keep her company for the rest of the race, clocking a personal best of 2:20:42.
“After the halfway mark, I left everyone,” Sichala said through a translator. “After the pacer dropped out, I followed the runners (men) who were running for themselves. I was able to pull away.”
Kemp, running in only his second marathon, achieved his goal by running the “massive PB” he was aiming for, finishing second in 2:22:56, the second fastest time ever in a 2025 World Championships qualifier. was by the American in Houston.She improved her personal best by more than 11 minutes.
Haileslase, struggling in the second half, finished third in 2:25:09. Another Ethiopian, Anna Dibaba, was fourth in 2:26:49. Amber Zimmerman of Philadelphia was fifth in 2:29:01.
The Aramco Houston Half-Marathon and the Chevron Houston Marathon are World Athletics Gold Label road races, the only event in which two Gold Label races are contested on the same day.
