Posted: January 20, 2004

Athletics: De Reuck wins at Houston Half-Marathon

2002 World Cross Country Championships long course bronze medalist Colleen De Reuck won the women’s race Sunday at the 2004 HP Houston Half-Marathon in Houston, Texas. A resident of Boulder, Colo., De Reuck won the race in 1 hour, 10 minutes, 54 seconds over runner-up Sylvia Mosqueda, who finished in 1:11:3.

Finishing first in the Halliburton International Half Marathon was Gilbert Koech, a Kenyan national training in Albuquerque, N.M. With a time of 1:03:08, Koech came in one second ahead of Dan Browne of Portland, Ore., who was the top U.S. male finisher and earned a $2000 bonus. "I definitely feel this is a great stepping stone to the U.S. Olympic Trials,” said Browne. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon will take place February 7 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Margarita Tapia, 27, of Mexico City, set a personal and course record with a time of 2:28:36 in taking home the women's HP Houston Marathon title and qualifying for Mexico's Olympic team. Marek Jaroszewski, 28, of Poland took the men's marathon title in 2:18:51.

A new record of 14,103 athletes registered for the day's three races. The event raised a record $600,000-plus for local charities.

For more information and complete results, go to www.hphoustonmarathon.com.