Posted: January 14, 2007

Athletics: Hall Sets North American Record In Half-Marathon

From David Monti © 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com HOUSTON (14-Jan) -- Running out of the fog and drizzle, American Ryan Hall ran the fastest-ever half-marathon by a North American here today, becoming the first North American ever to break one hour for the distance. Hall, 24, of Big Bear, Calif., scorched the certified, loop course in 59 minutes and 43 seconds, shattering German Silva's previous North American mark of 1:00:28 set in Oslo in 1994. Hall also bettered the USA record of Mark Curp (1:00:55) set in Philadelphia in 1985. Hall broke away from the field very early in the race, going through 5 km in 14:05, 10 km in 28:21, 15 km in 42:21 and ten miles in 45:33. He certainly passed the 20 km mark faster than his own USA 20-K record (57:54), but there was no official time taken at that point. An estimate from the lead truck was 57:06. The race here, the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon, served as the USA Half-Marathon Championships for men and women. Elva Dryer won the women's race in 1:11:40 (unofficial) to win the women's title. NOTE: Race Results Weekly will have a complete report on the event later today --Ed. Comment on this story. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest

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