On Sunday, February 26, Aliphine Tuliamuk and Jacob Thomson claimed victories at the 2023 USATF Half Marathon Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.
A big move in the last quarter of the race led Tuliamuk to win the women’s crown in 1:09:37, 15 seconds ahead of runner-up Lauren Paquette. Nell Rojas completed the podium, finishing third in 1:11:08.
USATF Half Marathon Championships Results
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Thomson won the men’s race in 1:02:38 by out-kicking 2022 champion Leonard Korir in a sprint finish. Futsum Zeinasellassie placed third in 1:02:39.
For many of the competitors, the first stop on the USATF road running circuit, which was hosted by the Cowtown Marathon, served as a tuneup for the spring marathon season.
The women’s race kicked off with Paquette taking control of the pace early on while Tuliamuk, her Northern Arizona Elite teammate, followed her lead. The Baylor University alum brought the top group through 5K in 16:31, which strung out the field. Tuliamuk was the only athlete to follow while the remaining competitors trailed about 10 seconds behind at the first major split.
At 10K, Paquette and Tuliamuk continued to work together to tackle the second half of the race. The pair came through 10K in 32:45, covering the second 5K 19 seconds faster than the opening split. The teammates settled into a slightly slower pace through 15K (49:16) until Tuliamuk pulled away for good around 50 minutes into the race.
The 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials champion ran the remaining 19 minutes by herself as the surge ultimately propelled her to win her 12th national title. The race also served as a great test of fitness for Tuliamuk, who said she hadn’t done many workouts prior as she is just beginning her training block for the Boston Marathon in April.
“That was actually really hard and my teammate Lauren has been on fire, so I was scared the whole time because I felt like I was running way ahead of my fitness in terms of speed,” Tuliamuk said on the RunnerSpace broadcast.
“We really wanted to go 1-2-3 today because we definitely felt like we had what it took to do that, but having Lauren be second was pretty awesome,” Tuliamuk said. “I’m really excited and proud of our team and how far we’ve come.”
The men’s race started at a conservative pace with the field coming through the first 5K in 15:23. Around 18 minutes in, Thomson threw down a sudden surge and pulled away from the field. “I don’t need it to be a time trial, but I want it to be an honest race,” Thomson said afterwards on the RunnerSpace broadcast. “I think I can suffer pretty good, so I want to make sure everybody else suffers just as much if not more.”
The University of Kentucky alum ran solo until the chase pack reeled him in just before the 10K mark. At that point, Thomson tucked in behind the leaders of the pack that came through the split in 30:16 after picking up the pace considerably.
A group of 10 runners covered 15K between 45:06 and 45:07, but the remaining miles saw that pack dwindle to seven men with a push from Brian Shrader. The pack shrunk even more in the last stage when Biya Simbassa increased the pace.
On the last turn before the homestretch, Thomson’s patience finally paid off when he swung wide and passed Simbassa, Korir, and Zeinasellassie. After making a big push early on in the competition, Thomson showed he still had enough speed left to beat the defending champion.
The performance builds on some momentum for Thomson, who notched a 2:11 personal best at the 2022 California International Marathon in December. It’s also his first national title after finishing second at the 2022 USATF Marathon Championships and third at the 2022 USATF Half Marathon Championships last year.
“The way I see myself as an athlete is I want to compete and win U.S. road races, and it was great to finally get a W,” Thomson said.
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.
