Close Finishes and Shattered Records Marked the Aramco Houston Half Marathon

2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon
More than 30,000 runners took part in Houston Marathon Weekend January 12-14, 2024.

The 2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon proved to be historic with several records broken as the company celebrated its 20th anniversary as title sponsor. The fast, flat course through city streets served as the perfect backdrop for elite runners to make their mark on the running world ahead of the Olympic trials.

2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon
Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede completed the half marathon with a first-place victory at 1:04:37.

More than 30,000 runners took part in Houston Marathon Weekend January 12-14, 2024. Runners ranged in age from 7 to 88 years old, representing all 50 states in the U.S. and 51 countries. The turnout also included hundreds of Aramco volunteers and 250,000 fans. Other races include the full marathon and the We Are Houston 5K, which Aramco co-sponsors.

Elite Women Runners Broke Records
Ethiopia’s Sutume Asefa Kebede completed the half marathon with a first-place victory at 1:04:37. Her time was 26 seconds faster than Vicoty Chepngeno’s all-comers record (fastest performance within a country regardless of the runner’s nationality), set in Houston in 2022.

“I was training specifically for a very fast half marathon,” Kebede told reporters through a translator. “The course was really great. I had been asking to run here for quite some time because I had heard from other runners that it was a very fast course.”

2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon
Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer took the top spot in the men’s half marathon with a time of 1:00:42, one second ahead of Kenya’s Wesley Kiptoo.

Boston and New York Marathon winner Hellen Obiri led the pack until 15 kilometers, but she finished second, clocking in at 1:06:07. Former NCAA Cross Country Champion Weini Kelati finished third with a new American-record time of 1:06:25.

With her sixth-place finish, two-time World Champion Edna Kiplagat beat her personal best and set a new masters course record at 1:07:52. The 44-year-old is considered one of the greatest marathoners of all time.

Men’s Champions Push for the Finish
Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer took the top spot in the men’s half marathon with a time of 1:00:42, one second ahead of Kenya’s Wesley Kiptoo. A first-place finish is nothing new for Yimer having won the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 2020. He told reporters he had planned to beat the long-standing record to finish less than an hour. He missed making history by one minute.

“Today’s race was good, but a little cold,” said Yimer. “The fact that there weren’t pacemakers made it so I couldn’t run the time that I was expecting. But I am happy to win.”

2023 Runner-up Wesley Kiptoo finished second while 2022 champion Milkesa Mengesha completed the course in third place.

2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon
Twenty charities received a contribution from Aramco's Committed to the Community program.

Committed to the Community
Aramco took an extra step to mark the 20th anniversary as sponsor of the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. Twenty charities received a contribution from Aramco's Committed to the Community program.

“We are proud to support the vital work done by our community partners and excited about our ongoing involvement with the Houston Marathon Foundation”

Nabeel I. AlAfaleg, President & CEO at Aramco Americas
2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon
Aramco’s own 200 volunteers distributed water and presented medals to runners during Houston Marathon Weekend, as well as participated in a two-day Health & Fitness Expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

We Run Houston After-School Running Program
For the second year, Aramco supported the We Run Houston after-school running program designed to promote fitness and wellness. Teachers and volunteers train approximately 750 local students to run the half marathon or the 5K, with Aramco providing running shoes and athletic apparel.

“We appreciate the generous support from Aramco Americas because it helps the HMF reach more students, allowing us to introduce more children to the benefits of running and to teach life skills while they train for their big finish line moment with their peers,” said Wade Morehead, Executive Director of the Houston Marathon Foundation and Committee.

Since the HMF began supporting youth training programs in 2011, a total of 4,302 local students have trained and finished the half marathon or 5K in downtown Houston, as part of the We Run Houston program.  On race weekend in 2024, the total number of We Run Houston finishers surpassed the milestone of 5,000 students.

Aramco’s own 200 volunteers distributed water and presented medals to runners during Houston Marathon Weekend, as well as participated in a two-day Health & Fitness Expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center. More than 60 employees also laced up their running shoes.  The Houston Marathon Committee forecast the city received a 51-million-dollar economic benefit due to the influx of activity.

2024 Aramco Houston Half Marathon

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