Houston is often known as “Space City.” There wasn’t much space in the top-100 of the women’s and men’s fields in the Houston Half Marathon on Sunday, January 11. The fields were deep and fast.
In the process, Rory Linkletter just entered a new realm. Sub-60 minutes over 21.1 kilometres in Houston. He finished the race in 59:49, which puts him in the national record books. Cameron Levins, who was also in the race, ran well, too. However, he is now the former national record holder. Sunday, he finished in 1:00:58. Levins’ personal best and former Canadian record is 1:00:18 from the Vancouver First Half in 2024.
First time in history a Canadian man has broken 1hr for the half marathon. Props to Rory Linkletter @ThePapaLinks for his 59:48 half marathon today. Dude is priming in the right direction for the LA Olympic Games in 2 years. Check the results https://t.co/Lv9ifMCe0w pic.twitter.com/2VBLYISLjx
— Barrie Shepley (@Barrieshepley) January 11, 2026
Levins finished 18th overall, Linkletter ended up seventh.
The winner from Eritrea was Habtom Samuel in 59:01. Kenyan Patrick Kiprop took second in 59:14, and taking third was Mohammed El Youssfi in 59:21.
Other Canadians were Alex Cyr, clocking in at 1:03:10, and Kieran McDonald in 1:03:08 to finish 39 and 40th. Hudson Grimshaw Surette finished in 44th position in 1:03:19. Jean-Rene Caron clocked in at 1:08:39 for 93rd.
The first American across the line was Alex Maier in 59:23.
Top female finishers
The women’s podium was swept by Ethiopia, with Fentaye Belaney winning in 64:49. Taking second was Tsigie Gebreselama in 64:52 and rolling in for third was Buze Diriba Kejela in 65:57.
The first American was Taylor Roe in 66:20.
Melissa Paauwe was the first Canadian to finish. She recorded a finish time of 76:29, finishing in 36th position. Just behind her was Samantha Jory in 1:17:00 for 40th.
Kieran Lumb
Vivir Sin Dormir is the City of Valencia’s slogan, which translates to “Live without sleeping.”
Runners chasing dreams in Valencia likely live out the motto in anticipation of the very fast 10km race offered by the Spanish city.
Speaking of benchmarks, Vancouver’s Kieran Lumb brought the national road record down by 15 seconds and below the 28-minute barrier, clocking in 27:50. The former record was held by Charles Philibert-Thiboutot at 28:06 from Ottawa last May.
Lumb made the Canadian news when he announced last year that he was moving to Norway to train under Gert Ingebrigtsen, father of Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
As earlier reported, Valencia proved fast again. Swede Andreas Almgren won in 26:46, setting a new European record. He was followed by Khairi Bejiga of Ethiopia in 26:52, with Victor Kipruto of Kenya in third in 27:18.
In the women’s race, Brenda Jepchirchir of Kenya took the win in 29:26. Likina Amebaw of Ethiopia was second in 29:30 and Clare Ndiwa of Kenya third in 29:50.
Valencia offers a fast course and deep fields. The city has emerged as a road racing hub, offering a marathon course that rivals London, Chicago and Berlin for speed.
While Lumb’s performance was great for Canadian running, humbly, he finished in 31st position.
Lumb’s former best was 29:15; however, he had run 28:43 in the non-certifiable Vancouver Sun Run.
