Posted: January 12, 2006

Athletics: U.S. Men's Half-Marathon Championships Set For Sunday

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

The U.S. Men's Half-Marathon Championships are set for Sunday in Houston, Tex., hosted by the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon. Organizers are expecting 66 athletes in the championship division who will compete for a $21,000 prize money purse. The winner will take home $7,000.

Leading the athlete list is 26 year-old Brian Sell, of Rochester, Mich., and the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, with a 1:02:59 career best time. Sell was the top U.S. finisher at last year's IAAF World Championships Marathon, finishing 9th. His 2:13:27 finish time was the best ever by an American at a World Championship.

Amongst Sell's challengers will be Matt Gabrielson of Apple Valley, Minn., and Team USA Minnesota. Gabrielson, 27, made his half-marathon debut at this championship last year, running 1:04:06. Peter Gilmore, 28, of Menlo Park, Calif., one of Sell's world championships teammates, should also be in the mix, along with Chris Graff, 30, of Arlington, Va., with a personal best time of 1:04:17. Jason Hartmann, 24, of Boulder, Colo., is also a contender for victory; he ran a 1:03:32 personal best at last year's IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships in Edmonton. Chad Johnson, Jason Lehmkuhle, Trent Briney and Clint Verran also have a shot at the podium.

The 2005 champion, Dan Browne, is not competing.

"This is the deepest elite field that we have ever had," David Chester, the elite athlete coodinator for the event in a press release. "Thanks to continued support from Aramco, we were able to accommodate over 60 elite athletes for the championship. And with three of the top-five finishers from last year and the addition of athletes like Sell, Hartmann and Graff we expect to see some very fast performances."

The 2006 U.S. Men's Half-Marathon Championship kicks off USA Track & Field's 2006 USA Running Circuit (USARC), a USA Track & Field road running series. The first ten U.S. runners earn points at each USARC race (15 for first, 12 for second, 10 for third, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1), with a final $12,500 grand prix purse ($6000, $4000, and $2500) for the top three men and women point scorers overall. The USARC points at the USA Marathon Championships will be doubled.

A full listing of the athletes competing at the championships is at this link: USATF.org.

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