Houston Half Marathon: Emily Sisson Sets a New American Record

This article was originally published on Womens Running

Emily Sisson ran 16:00:52 to beat her American record by 19 seconds. She finished second overall at Sunday’s Houston Half Marathon. She is the first American woman to run under 67 minutes over a course that meets record criteria. Four of the six fastest American women have also completed the distance.

After setting American records last spring in the half-marathon (1:07:11) and at the Chicago Marathon (2:18:29), the Flagstaff, Arizona native, 31-year-old is ready to open 2023. By doing so, she became America’s first woman to hold both the national and half-marathon records. Deena Kasstor held these marks from 2006-2018.

The record-setting run saw her average 5:07 per mile, but her pace was slightly slower after the first 5K at 15:31. Hiwot Gebremaryam from Ethiopia won the race in 1:06;28. Sisson was able to catch Gebremaryam’s lead, but she wondered if she could have done it faster with a more consistent effort.

Sisson, who lives in Houston, said that she felt like she could have run a bit more evenly. She also stated that she hopes to run another half of the marathon and run faster. “I wanted to win the race but I couldn’t. [Gebremaryam] Today was just too good. My main focus was to compete and hope the time was quick at the finish. The first few miles were a bit too fast so I felt it the last few miles.

Sisson raced in a brand-new New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Pacer.

Molly Huddle, her longtime training partner, finished fifth overall and was second American in 1:10.01, nine months after Josephine’s birth. Huddle, who set a new American record in 2018 with a time of 1:07:25 over the same course, cut three and a quarter minutes from her previous half-marathon run this fall.

American Women Racing at Houston

Other high-profile American women made their debuts at the distance, including several well-known ones. Jenny Simpson, a former 1,500m specialist who was also a 2011 world champion, took her first attempt at 13.1 miles and finished fifth in 1:10:35. Vanessa Fraser from the Nike Bowerman Track Club was the ninth American to make her debut. She has run the fastest ever U.S. indoor 5K in 14:48 and finished in 1:11:00. Both women ran faster than 1:02.

According to Fast WomenEight women were able to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials by running under 1:12 in the half or 2:37 in the full. Kemp finished seventh overall. Lindsay Flanagan, an American, was eighth overall (1:10;20), although she had qualified for the U.S Olympic Trials.

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