Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie, who lives and trains in Flagstaff for McKirdy Trained, had a breakthrough race Sunday morning in the New York City Half Marathon, ascending to the podium with a third-place finish in 1 hour 1 minute 37 seconds.
Hoke NAZ Elite’s Matt Baxter, kicking off his outdoor road season, placed eighth in 1:04:12 on a challenging course that started in Brooklyn, went over the East River, then through Times Square before finishing in Central Park. Baxter finished just behind distance legend Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia. The men’s winner was Kenya’s Abel Kipchumba in 1:00:25. Hillary Bor, making his half marathon debut, was the top American in fourth, 10 seconds behind Haileselassie.
Haileselassie’s result should not surprise. He is a two-time Olympic steeplechaser with the national record of 8:22:52. In January, at the flat and fast Houston Half Marathon, he ran 1:01:34, so Sunday’s result can be seen as a big improvement. His next race is April’s Boston Marathon.
Calli Hauger-Thackery, the Brit who lives and trains in Flagstaff, finished seventh in the women’s race in 1:12:05, just behind the top American, Jenny Simpson. Hauger-Thackery, recently selected to the Great Britain marathon team for the Paris Olympics, has a personal best of 1:08:20, set in Houston.
Leave a Reply