2020 Houston Marathon Elite Athlete Field

HOUSTON (January 7, 2020) – The Houston Marathon Committee (HMC) announced today a stellar elite field for the forty-eighth running of the Chevron Houston Marathon and the eighteenth Aramco Houston Half Marathon events taking place Jan. 19, 2020.   For the first year ever in HMC history, both the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon are World Athletic Gold Label events. This makes Houston home to the only Gold Label marathon and half marathon events in the United States, as well as the only global Gold Label marathon and half marathon events hosted on the same day. This status is awarded by meeting several criteriaa with the caliber of the elite field playing a major role.  “The awarding of gold label status marks the culmination of many years of dedication to the elite athletes in our sport,” said Chevron Houston Marathon Race Director and Board President Brant Kotch. “We are proud to showcase our support of these asathletes through this recognition and feel it further emphasizes our commitment to clean sport.”  Returning Champions  The Chevron Houston Marathon welcomes back defending 2019 women's champion Biruktayit Degefa, where she will try to become the only woman to win here in Houston four times, and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon returns three former champions; 2018 female champion Ruti Aga, and past male winners; Shura Kitata (defending 2019 champion) and Jake Robertson (2018).  Elite Field as of Jan. 12, 2020

Men's Marathon (First name, Last name)		Citizenship	Personal Best
Hassan	El Abbassi	BRN	2:04:43
Woldaregay	Kelkile Gezahegn	ETH	2:05:56
John	Langat	KEN	2:07:11
Benson	Seurei	BRN	2:07:37
Amanuel	Mesel	ERI	2:08:17
Abdi	Ibrahim Abdo	BRN	2:08:32
Mark	Lokwanamoi	KEN	2:08:39
Dominic	Ondoro	KEN	2:08:51
Bonsa	Dida	ETH	2:09:04
Tsegay	Tuemay	ERI	2:09:07
Tariku	Bekele	ETH	2:09:30
Stephen	Scullion	IRE	2:12:01
Birhanu	Dare	KEN	2:12:21
Alexis	Nizeyimana	TAN	2:13:06
Craig	Hunt	USA	2:15:29
Rory	Tunningley	USA	2:16:25
Tony	Migliozzi	USA	2:16:44
Dylan	Belles	USA	2:16:59
Thomas	Puzey	USA	2:18:20
Dan	Harper	USA	2:17:32
Michael	Roeger	AUS	2:23:31
Belay	Tilahun Bezabeh	ETH	DEBUT

 

Women's Marathon (First name, Last name)		Citizenship	Personal Best
Bruktayit	Degefa Eshetu	ETH	2:22:40
Askale	Merachi	ETH	2:24:13
Shuko	Wote Genemo	ETH	2:24:28
Muluhabt	Tsega	ETH	2:25:48
Meseret	Belete	ETH	2:26:56
Milliam	Ebongon	KEN	2:27:16
Bekelech	Gudeta	ETH	2:27:40
Sechale	Dalasa	ETH	2:28:46
Ayantu	Dakebo Hailemaryam	ETH	2:30:06
Malindi	Elmore	CAN	2:32:15
Hiruni	Wijayaratne	LKA	2:34:10
Neely	Spence-Gracey	USA	2:34:55
Adriana	Nelson-Pirtea	USA	2:35:45
Natasha	LaBeaud	CAN	2:37:11
Dylan	Hassett	IRE	2:39:55
Anne	Johnston	CAN	2:43:02
Alexi	Pappas	GRC	2:43:38
Brenda	Flores Munoz	MEX	DEBUT
Andrea	Soraya Limon	MEX	DEBUT
Ursula	Sanchez	MEX	DEBUT

 

Men's Half Marathon (First name, Last name)		Citizenship	Personal Best
Jemal	Yimer Mekonnen	ETH	58:33
Bernard	Kipkorir Ngeno	KEN	59:07
Andamlak	Belihu Berta	ETH	59:10
Tola Shura	Kitata	ETH	59:16
Abel	Kipchumba	KEN	59:29
Jake	Robertson	NZ	59:58
Shadrack	Kimining Korir	KEN	59:32
Geoffrey	Koech Korir	KEN	59:50
Philemon	Kiplimo	KEN	59:57
Gabriel	Gerald Geay	TAN	1:00:26
Sam	Chelanga	USA	1:00:37
Diego	Estrada	USA	1:00:51
Bethwel	Yegon	KEN	1:00:57
Shadrack	Biwott	USA	1:01:25
Jared	Ward	USA	1:01:42
Matt	Llano	USA	1:01:47
James	Ngandu	KEN	1:01:51
Reed	Fischer	USA	1:02:06
Cameron	Levins	CAN	1:02:15
Dominic	Korir	KEN	1:02:17
Andrew	Colley	USA	1:02:24
Willie	Milam	USA	1:02:26
John	Raneri	USA	1:02:31
Futsum	Zeinasellassie	USA	1:02:33
Matthew	McClintock	USA	1:02:34
Brogan	Austin	USA	1:02:39
Alex	Monroe	USA	1:02:44
Luis	Alberto Orta	VEN	1:03:09
Andrew	Epperson	USA	1:03:17
Kevin	Lewis	USA	1:03:26
Tyler	Jermann	USA	1:03:31
Clayton	Young	USA	1:03:40
Danny	Docherty	USA	1:03:47
Kai	Takeshita	JAP	1:03:53
Tyler	Pennel	USA	1:04:06
Daisuke	Momozawa	JAP	1:04:09
Matt	Leach	GBR	1:04:21
Juan	Paredes	USA	1:05:09
Grant	Fischer	USA	1:05:26
Rory	Linkletter	CAN	DEBUT
Andrew	Leach	USA

 

Women's Half Marathon (First name, Last name)		Citizenship	Personal Best
Caroline	Chepkoech Kipkirui	KEN	1:05:07
Gelete	Burka	ETH	1:06:11
Dorcas	Jepchirchir Tuitoek	KEN	1:06:33
Ruti	Aga	ETH	1:06:39
Brillian	Jepkorir Kipkoech	KEN	1:07:12
Molly	Huddle	USA	1:07:25
Sara	Hall	USA	1:09:27
Hitomi	Niiya	JAP	1:11:41
Monicah	Ngige Wanjuhi	KEN	1:07:29
Dorcas	Kimeli	KEN	1:07:44
Caroline	Rotich	KEN	1:08:52
Gotytom	Gebreslase	ETH	1:08:58
Aliphine	Tuliamuk	USA	1:09:16
Rachel	Cliff	CAN	1:10:08
Laura	Thweatt	USA	1:10:17
Katy	Jermann	USA	1:10:27
Molly	Seidel	USA	1:10:27
Emebet	Anteneh	ETH	1:10:32
Natasha	Wodak	CAN	1:10:33
Elaina	Tabb	USA	1:10:44
Bethany	Sachtleben	USA	1:10:44
Stephanie	Twell	GBR	1:10:52
Becky	Wade	USA	1:11:15
Dayna	Pidhoresky	CAN	1:11:46
Lindsay	Flanagan	USA	1:12:05
Sarah	Inglis	GBR	1:12:23
Kinsey	Middleton	CAN	1:12:30
Samantha	Bluske	USA	1:12:32
Jessica	Watychovicz	USA	1:12:35
Emily	Setlack	USA	1:12:36
Jaci	Smith	USA	1:12:40
Alexis	Zeis	USA	1:12:43
Jennifer	Bergman	USA	1:13:15
Molly	Grabill	USA	1:13:19
Allison	Cleaver	USA	1:13:21
Keira	D'Amato	USA	1:13:32
Maggie	Montoya	USA	1:13:33
Dakotah	Lindwurm	USA	1:13:39
Kelsey	Bruce	USA	1:13:41
Valerie	Sanchez	USA	1:13:44
Julia	Kohnen	USA	1:13:47
Meghan	Armstrong-Peyton	USA	1:13:56
Nell	Rojas	USA	1:14:17
Emily	Durgin	USA	DEBUT
Rebitu	Bontu Edao	BRN	DEBUT
Annie	Frisbie	USA	DEBUT

  Prize Purse The 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Marathon will continue to award prize money to the top eight finishers in all four races. A total of $291,000 in guaranteed prize money will be awarded, including a $45,000 first place payout for both the men’s and women’s champions at the 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon and a $20,000 first place payout for both the men’s and women’s champions at the 2020 Aramco Houston Half Marathon.  For a complete list of prize money please visit: www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com/participants/elites/     Additional Athlete Stories of Interest   Chevron Houston Marathon  

• Thomas Rivers Puzey - The outlier story of the 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon, Puzey returns to Houston with unfinished business. After pacing through the 30K of 2019’s race on track to run 2:14, the wheels came off for Puzey. He managed to stumble across the finish line with an official finish time of 2:20:19 and a trip to the medic. He will undoubtably again push himself to his limits.
• Biruktayit Degefa has an opportunity to make history in her seventh consecutive appearance – if she wins, she will be the first athlete in Houston Marathon history, male or female, to win the race four times. In 2019, she became just the third female in race history to win three times. Degefa started running marathons at age 19, and she is one of the most prolific elite runners competing today. Over the last decade, she has run an incredible 31 marathons (she ran six alone in 2014), landing on the podium 20 times and winning eight times. She returns this year as a favorite for the title, especially on the heels of her PR in Toronto, 2:22:40, to close out 2019. 
• Alexi Pappas, a 2016 Olympian for Greece in the 10,000m (she holds dual Greek-American citizenship), arrives in Houston with a 2:43:38 marathon personal best, but the talent to completely obliterate that time and run closer to the 2:29:30 Olympic standard that she needs to make it to Tokyo. Pappas experienced an extraordinary Olympic debut performance in Rio. She set the Greek national 10,000m record and a new PR to finish 17th in 31:36.16.
• Neely Spence Gracey runs her first marathon post-pregnancy after welcoming a baby boy in July of 2018. She has her sights set on qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Trials, after injury and illness kept her from competing in both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Trials. Prior to pregnancy, Neely won the 2016 Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Half Marathon and then made her debut at the Boston Marathon. She finished in 2:35 – securing her spot as the top American, and ninth overall. After recovering from Boston, Neely won the Rock ‘n; Roll Chicago Half Marathon, and then closed out the year with an 8th place finish, (2nd American behind Molly Huddle), at the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon (2:34).  

Aramco Houston Half Marathon 

• Shura Kitata will look to defend his 2019 title on the heels of his fifth-place finish at the New York City Marathon just a few short months ago. He will be facing several of the same challengers from the 2019 Aramco Houston Half Marathon, so if past precedent remains the same, we are sure to see a fast and competitive race from the gun.  
• Jake Robertson, 2018 Aramco Houston Half Marathon Champion, returns to Houston after a troubled 2019 fighting injury and rebuilding. After winning in Houston, he went on to win a competitive Beach to Beacon 10K and finished out the year with a fifth-place finish at the Toronto Marathon in 2018 but hasn’t toed the start line in over a year. All eyes will be watching to see his return to the racing scene.  
• Ruti Aga – Aga returns to familiar territory in Houston as the 2018 Women’s Champion of the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. Her finishing time of 1:06:39 from the race remains her personal best. Aga is certain to be in the lead pack vying for the win once again.  
• Molly Huddle – The Women’s American Half Marathon Record Holder, Huddle returns to Houston and the course she set the current standard of 1:07:25 on to test her fitness going into the 2020 Olympic Trials in February. She currently lives and trains in Providence, Rhode Island with her husband Kurt Benninger and Coach Ray Treacy.   
• Sara Hall - Hall enters the 2020 season with her eyes set on making a third U.S. Olympic team. On the heels of a massive marathon PR of 2:22:16 in Berlin last year, Houston will be a preview of her fitness level and her future in 2020.  

Athlete Development Program 

The 2020 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon boasts the largest Athlete Development Program field in the history of the events. More than 450 runners have met the qualifying standard to be categorized in the field where many will make their last attempt at achieving the Olympic Trials Qualifying standard to compete in Atlanta in a mere six weeks.    To request interviews with any of these athletes please contact Director of Marketing, Media & Brand - Muffy King at muffy@houstonmarathon.com    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 Gold Label Chevron Houston Marathon has been the race site for three U.S. Olympic Trials Marathons and the Gold 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 $31 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 national and international syndication airing on ESPN3 and the Longhorn Network.  For more information, visit www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com or call 713.957.3453