Weini Kelati sets American record at Houston Half Marathon

On Sunday, in her half-marathon debut, Weini Kelati, 27, ran 66:25 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon to finish fourth, besting Keira D’Amato‘s former American record of 66:39, set in June at Australia’s Gold Coast Half Marathon.

Born in Eritrea, Kelati was an NCAA 5,000m and cross-country champion, running for the University of New Mexico.

Both men’s and women’s fields in the Houston Half Marathon were loaded with talent eager to test their fitness on the fast, flat Houston course (albeit a bit windy Sunday morning, runners reported).

Women’s race

Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede won the women’s race in a blistering time of 64:37, followed by renowned distance runner and 2023 New York City Marathon champ Hellen Obiri of Kenya in 66:07 and third-place Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba Kejela, who ran 66:24. Diriba won the 2023 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October 2023 in 2:23:11.

Sutume Kebede wins the Houston Half Marathon in 1:04:37. pic.twitter.com/gtU5ldHWOd

— Fast Women (@fast_women) January 14, 2024

Kebede and Obiri ran closely through much of the race, setting off at a heated pace and running through the first 5K in 15:16.

In sixth place, Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat ran the second-fastest half marathon time of her career at age 44, finishing in 67:52. Jasmine Fehr was the top (non-elite) Canadian in the women’s race, finishing 25th in 1:14:09.

Top women:

1. Sutume Kebede 1:04:37
2. Hellen Obiri 1:06:07
3. Buze Diriba 1:06:24
4. Weini Kelati 1:06:25
5. Mestawut Fikir 1:07:36
6. Edna Kiplagat 1:07:52
7. Calli Thackery 1:08:20
8. Makenna Myler 1:08:28
9. Nell Rojas 1:08:52
10. Mercy Chelangat 1:08:58

Men’s race

It was an incredibly tight men’s race on Sunday morning, with the top men finishing within several seconds of one another. Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer won in a sprint fimish (Yimer also won in 59:25 in 2020), crossing the line in 60:42 with Kenya’s Wesley Kiptoo on his heels, in 60:43. Milkesa Tolosa of Ethiopia took third in 60:45, crossing the line with first American runner Abbabiya Simbassa of Flagstaff, Ariz., who also finished in 60:45, a hair behind Tolosa.

#NYCMarathon front runners #TamiratTola and #JemalYimer pic.twitter.com/ccxEBGblCE

— Sudhir Chaturvedi (@Sudhir_Chat) November 5, 2023

With Canada’s Moh Ahmed out of the race after suffering a hamstring injury in one of his final training sessions, Rory Linkletter was the lone Canadian athlete in the men’s elite half-marathon field. Linkletter finished in 61:02, a PB. His personal best of 61:08 was set at this race in 2022 (a Canadian national record at the time). Linkletter told Canadian Running that he was happy with his race, despite wishing he had been able to run three seconds faster to make sub-61. “Good for a month out from Seville,” Linkletter said, referring to his goal race, the Seville Marathon, on Feb. 18, where he will be aiming for the Olympic standard of 2:08:10.

Two thumbs up from Linkletter!

A personal best of 61:02 and a seventh overall finish at the Houston Half!

📷: @alnbrookes pic.twitter.com/w53wGZSlBC

— Canadian Running (@CanadianRunning) January 14, 2024

Top ten men 

1. Jemal Yimer  1:00:42
2. Wesley Kiptoo  1:00:43
3. Milkesa Tolosa  1:00:45
4. Abbabiya Simbassa  1:00:45
5. Diego Estrada  1:00:49
6. Rory Linkletter  1:01:02
7. Peter Njeru  1:01:13
8. Yemane Haileselassie  1:01:34
9. Andrew Colley  1:01:39
10. Fearghal Curtin  1:01:45

For full results of the 2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon, head here.