Houston, TX - January 15 2006 - XO elite distance runner Max King dropped another bomb on the national scene this morning when he finished third in a talented field at the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Houston, Texas.
The pace went out hard at about 4:40 for each of the first two miles and the field quickly strung out. “I ran in fifth [place] for most of the race and I was by myself for a little while in the middle,” said 25-year old Max King. The race continued at a blistering pace as the eventual winner of the U.S. Championship division, Brian Sell, chased the overall winner, Nicodemus Malakwen of Kenya who finished the 13.1 mile course in 1:02:07.
King caught former University of Oregon great, Jason Hartmann, midway through the race, but when the former Duck returned the favor with a mile to go, King had no answer. “Hartmann came by, but I knew I couldn’t catch him,” said King. “With a mile to go, I wondered if I could even finish. My legs were shaking toward the end as the race may have been a little long for me, but it was a solid race.”
The final results reflected the tight finish between second and fourth American finishers as Hartmann (63:07) took second, King (63:08) third, and Brandon Leslie (63:10) of Albuquerque, New Mexico finished just two seconds back. King looks forward to a final tune-up in the 3000 meter race in two weeks at the University of Washington before heading off to New York for the World Cross Country Team Trials. |
