Molly Huddle Looks to Challenge for Title

By Scott Bush

The B.A.A. Half Marathon takes place Sunday in Boston. Led by defending champion Lelisa Desisa, who recently committed to run the TCS New York City Marathon next month, the men’s field returns the top three finishers from 2013 and should once again be a very close race.

On the women’s side, Molly Huddle will try her best to take down IAAF World Half Marathon Championship silver medalist Mary Wacera, as well as Ethiopian Mamitu Daska. While Huddle’s personal best of 69:04 lags well behind the bests of Wacera and Daska, one needs to remember that her PR came in her debut over the distance.

Desisa Tunes Up for NYC

Few runners have been as dominant over the past couple years as Ethiopia’s Lelisa Desisa. After announcing his TCS NYC Marathon entry, Desisa now looks to use the B.A.A. Half Marathon race as a tune-up, so it will be interesting to see just how sharp he’ll be heading into Sunday’s race. He won by seven seconds over in a course record time of 60:34 last year and is considered the favorite heading in.

What we do know is Desisa is clearly the best runner on paper if you look strictly at times. The 24 year old beat one of the all-time great half marathon fields at the RAK Half Marathon back in February. Using a lethal kick at the very end of the race, he prevailed in 59:36, winning by three seconds, as seven other competitors ran 59:54 or faster.

Desisa’s chief competition should come from last year’s second and third place finishers Stephen Sambu (KEN) and Daniel Salel (KEN). At last year’s B.A.A. Half, Salel edged Sambu by the slimmest of margins for second place, as both athletes crossed the finish in the identical time of 60:41. These two have a magnificent rivalry, which carried into the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile earlier this summer, as Sambu nipped Salel this time around, both finishing in 45:29.

While the two renew their rivalry this weekend, Sambu enters with the slight edge. He’s coming off a huge summer of success. He finished fourth in the 10,000m on the track and the Pre Classic in 26:54, the fourth fastest time in the world in 2014, while earning big wins at Cherry Blossom, Falmouth Road Race and the B.A.A. 10K. Don’t forget that Sambu finished one second off Mo Farah at the NYC Half earlier in the year. He’s ready.

Ethiopia’s Tesfaalem Gebrearegawi and Kenya’s Leonard Korir also enter with some strong personal bests, as Gebrearegawi holds a best of 61:07 and Korir 61:19. Both have been relatively quiet this season, however, so their fitness heading into Sunday’s race is a bit unknown. Gebrearegawi won a half marathon in Italy earlier in the year in 62:30, ten minutes ahead of his nearest competition, while Korir enters with a fourth place finish at the B.A.A. 10K.

60:07 half marathoner Raji Assefa (ETH) comes in looking to challenge sub-62 minutes (his PR was set in 2008), while Cleophas Ngetich (KEN) sets his eyes on a sub-62 clocking as he makes his debut in the distance. Ethan Shaw and Patrick Geoghegan are the lone Americans in the pro field.

Wacera Looks to Build On Big 2014

69:14 is the course record for the B.A.A. Half Marathon. With the lineup of competitors in this year’s race, there are a half dozen athletes fully capable of taking that time down, which means there are a half dozen athletes fighting for not only the $10,000 first place prize but also the $10,000 course record bonus.

Mary Wacera (KEN) enters as the pre-race favorite. She’s coming off a huge spring, where she earned the silver medal at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in a new personal best of 67:44. She continued that pace onto the roads this summer, taking home top prize at the Utica Boilermaker 15K. Similar to Desisa on the men’s side, she’ll be the favorite, but there are plenty of others able to challenge for the win.

Wacera will be joined by Mamitu Daska (ETH) and Molly Huddle (USA) up front. Daska comes off a successful summer where she won the B.A.A. 10K and Cherry Blossom 10 Mile. Meanwhile, Huddle’s success on the roads in 2014 is quite impressive, winning the B.A.A. 5K and USA 7 Mile, 5K and 20K titles. Throw on top of that her third place half marathon debut effort at the NYC Marathon and she’ll be looking to break her best of 69:04. Daska owns a 68:07 best, so they are in the same league as Wacera.

Behind those three, proven road race standouts Aheza Kiros (ETH) and Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton (KEN) seek to improve their 69:10 and 69:16 bests. Kiros is looking to find her groove again, after a rather disappointing Paris Marathon performance of 2:38:12, while Tuliamuk-Bolton hopes to rebound as well for a ninth place showing at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon less than two weeks ago, where she ran 73:20. She placed third at both the B.A.A. 10K and Cherry Blossom earlier in the summer, so she should be just fine.

On the debut front, former NCAA champion Betsy Saina (KEN) takes on the 13.1 mile distance. She finished one spot behind Huddle on the track earlier this year at the Payton Jordan Invitational, running 30:57.30 for 10,000m, while finishing runner-up to Daska at the B.A.A. 10K. Clearly 13.1 miles is different than 6.2, but she’s shown plenty of talent and drive over the past few years to where a sub-69 minute effort seems completely realistic.

The 2009 World Champion over 10,000m, Linet Masai (KEN), jumps onto the roads. She hit her peak in 2009 and 2011 (she finished with bronze in the 10k in 2011), but a transition to a longer race may be just what she needs to reinvigorate her career. Her race day fitness is questionable, but if she is in even remotely similar shape to three years ago, she’ll contend for a top five finish.