The 2018 Houston Half is the informal Canadian championship

The 2018 Canadian Half-Marathon Championships are in Calgary in May. In the interim, the Houston Half is a contender for the year’s most competitive half-marathon among Canadians.

The 2018 Houston Half, scheduled for Jan. 14, has more than 10 Canadians in its elite field, according to the latest start list as of Dec. 27. The top Canadians by lifetime bests are Reid Coolsaet (1:02:42) and Natasha Wodak (1:11:20), both of who have raced within the last three weeks. Coolsaet showed up at the Boxing Day 10-Miler and Wodak at the Pioneer 8K.

Perhaps the most intriguing of the Canadian entrants is Cam Levins, who debuted in the half-marathon in December, clocking 1:05:07 in Portland, Ore. The former national outdoor record holder over 10,000m is making his debut as a Hoka One One athlete, a brand with which he recently signed.

.@HOKAONEONE signs Olympian @CamLevins: https://t.co/wCxbfc4cMh (?: Holiday Half-Marathon) pic.twitter.com/WWBd6WZYM9

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) January 8, 2018

RELATED: VIDEO: Spectacular finish at the Houston Half-Marathon.

Sasha Gollish dropped out of the Houston Half and will instead be racing the Arizona Rock ‘n’ Roll Half-Marathon in Phoenix where Sarah Inglis is also set to race. The Houston Half begins at 7 a.m. local time.

Complete half-marathon fields can be found below. (No Canadian elites are entered in the marathon.)

Men’s field

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbzEL7xAW5r/

Women’s field