Fresh off a dominant cross country season and a strong start to the indoor track season in December, New Mexico’s Habtom Samuel will make his road race debut at the Houston Half Marathon Sunday against elite international competition.
“I wanted to test myself on the roads and see how I stack up against top professional athletes outside of track and XC,” said Samuel, a two-time bronze medalist at the World U20 Championships and two-time NCAA Champion after winning his first national XC title in November. “Houston felt like the right place to take that next step and challenge myself in a new beginning.”
Samuel will race against a field of accomplished marathon veterans in his first try at the half-marathon distance, including six of the 15 fastest men in American history and the two fastest Canadians all-time. He’ll be one of seven athletes making their debut at the 13.1-mile distance on Sunday.
Samuel is well-suited to a longer distance, having finished as NCAA Champion in the 10,000m in 2024 and national runner-up behind teammate Ishmael Kipkurui in 2025. He finished as national runner-up at the 10K distance in cross country twice in 2023 and 2024 before winning his first national title in cross country in dominant fashion in November. Samuel also ran what would be the second-fastest time in collegiate history in the outdoor 10K (26:51.06) unattached last outdoor season and ranks No. 3 on the all-time list with his 26:53.84 time in 2024.
The Houston Half Marathon will be broadcast live on ABC13, abc13.com, and ESPN+ starting at 5:30 a.m. MT, with live results and other media information available via GoLobos.com/HoustonHalf. Follow @UNMLoboXCTF on Instagram and X for live coverage, meet day content and more.
HOUSTON HALF MARATHON COMPETITORS
|
Vincent Ngetich |
KEN |
0:59:09 |
|
Galen Rupp |
USA |
0:59:47 |
|
Hillary Bor |
USA |
0:59:55 |
|
Cam Levins |
CAN |
1:00:18 |
|
Biya Simbassa |
USA |
1:00:37 |
|
Sam Chelanga |
USA |
1:00:37 |
|
Andrew Colley |
USA |
1:00:47 |
|
Alex Maier |
USA |
1:00:48 |
|
Marcelo Laguera |
MEX |
1:00:53 |
|
Reed Fischer |
USA |
1:00:54 |
|
Rory Linkletter |
CAN |
1:00:57 |
|
Ryan Ford |
USA |
1:00:59 |
|
Alberto Mindez |
GUA |
1:01:03 |
|
Alex Masai |
KEN |
1:01:04 |
|
Peter Lynch |
IRL |
1:01:15 |
|
Patrick Kiprop |
KEN |
1:01:19 |
|
Aaron Bienenfeld |
GER |
1:01:39 |
|
Mohamed El Youssfi |
MAR |
1:01:47 |
|
Kengo Suzuki |
JPN |
1:01:53 |
|
Haimro Alame |
ISR |
1:02:02 |
|
William Amponsah |
GHA |
1:03:15 |
|
Daniel Michalski |
USA |
1:03:41 |
|
Bran Barraza |
USA |
1:04:29 |
|
Aaron Gruen |
AUT |
1:04:35 |
|
Robert Warner-Judd |
GBR |
1:04:44 |
|
ERI |
DEBUT |
|
|
Casey Clinger |
USA |
DEBUT |
|
Isai Rodriguez |
USA |
DEBUT |
|
Graydon Morris |
USA |
DEBUT |
|
Dylan Schubert |
USA |
DEBUT |
|
Merga Gemeda |
USA |
DEBUT |
|
Hunter Christopher |
USA |
DEBUT |