Sara Hall ran 1:07:15 half marathon record on January 14 in Houston, running 1:06:25. It was Kelati’s debut at the distance, and the 27-year-old made a 14-second improvement on the previous record, set by Keira D’Amato last year.
Kelati finished fourth overall. Ethiopia’s Sutume Kebede was the winner in 1:04:37, running the fastest women’s half marathon on U.S. soil. Hellen Obiri of Kenya, who won the Boston and The 2024 NYC Marathon Was Tough to Get Into marathons in 2023, finished second in 1:06:07. Buze Diriba Kejela of Ethiopia outkicked Kelati down the homestretch to claim third in 1:06:24.
“I can’t believe it. This is amazing,” Kelati said on the ABC13 broadcast. “Honestly, when I was at the starting line, I didn’t know what to expect. Halfway, I was like, this feels pretty good, we are under the pace. I can keep going. The last half mile was pretty windy, and I was like, I’m just going to finish this, but I’m glad I got it.”
The flat course in Houston has been a reliable place for American women to chase the half marathon record in recent years; Kelati is the third runner in the last three years to break the mark there. In 2022, Health & Injuries, 10 seconds faster than the previous record, also set in Houston, by Molly Huddle in 2018. Last year, Emily Sisson ran 1:06:52 in Houston. (In July 2023, D’Amato lowered the time once again, running 1:06:39 in winning the Gold Coast Half Marathon in Australia.)
This is Kelati’s first American record. The Eritrean-born athlete sought asylum in the United States after competing at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon. She was taken in by her cousin in Virginia, and Kelati rose through the high school ranks and later became a 13-time All-American while running for the University of New Mexico. She became an American citizen in 2021. In 2022, eight years after leaving Eritrea, Kelati reunited with her mother in an emotional moment she recounted in an interview with Runner’s World.
Since turning pro in 2020, Kelati has been slightly stronger on the roads, earning multiple national titles, than she has been on the track. Her performance in Houston has observers wondering when she will debut in the marathon.
In the men’s race, Jemal Yimer of Ethiopia won in 1:00:42. He came out on top in a sprint finish against runner-up Wesley Kiptoo of Kenya (1:00:43), Milkesa Tolosa of Ethiopia (1:00:45), and American Abbabiya Simbassa (1:00:45). American Diego Estrada lowered his personal best by two seconds with his fifth-place finish in 1:00:49. Four-time Olympian Galen Rupp, who, like Simbassa, is training for the Olympic Marathon Trials How Paris Hopes to Keep Olympians Cool This Summer.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
