Courtesy: Steve Sievert/Running USA

HPHM Photo Gallery

So much for a post-Olympic hangover.

Dan Browne (pictured), who represented the U.S. in both the marathon and 10,000 meters at the 2004 Athens Games, dispelled any concern of a post-Olympics letdown with a strong late-race surge to claim victory at the 2005 USA Men's Half-Marathon Championship in Houston.

An upset stomach forced Browne, 29, from Beaverton, Ore., to begin the race cautiously. He tucked himself into a pack of about 30 runners who spent the first few miles of the race looking around for a definitive leader on cool (36 degrees at the start) and windy race morning.

Teddy Mitchell and Justin Young were among those setting the pace, along with Kenyans Julius Kibet and Sammy Nyamongo, as the national championship race was staged in conjunction with the Open event in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. The pack shed about five as it coasted through four and five miles at a comfortable five-minute-mile pace.

The first move of the day came from Kibet, 22, who found another gear at the 10K mark and quickly built a sizeable lead. At that point, Browne and the other elite Americans had to think it was a race for second and the national title.

"It's a hard thing to admit sometimes, but I knew with the way my body was feeling going after him was going to be tough. I decided to hang back a little bit to see what happened in the pack," said Browne.

Browne, Young, Matt Gabrielson and Jason Lehmukuhle formed the chase group that tried to keep in Kibet in sight, while jockeying for position to decide the U.S. crown. It was the West Point grad, Browne, who had the most left for a late push to the finish in 1:03:56 - 10 seconds better than Gabrielson, and he also won $8500 and the first event on the 2005 USA Running Circuit, a national road championship grand prix. Browne was the 2001-02 USARC Grand Prix champion.

"A national championship is a great way to get the year started," said Browne, who also won the national half-marathon title in 2001 and his 14th U.S. title overall. "It gives me a lot of confidence going into the rest of the year, hopefully headed toward Helsinki in either the 5000 or the 10,000."

The 26-year-old Gabrielson ran a strong second half of the race to take the national runner-up spot in 1:04:06 - a finish just as surprising to him as it was to the rest of the field.

"I kind of came into the race blindfolded," said Gabrielson, who trains with Team USA Minnesota in Minneapolis/St. Paul. "This the first time I've run the half-marathon distance. It was my first race over seven miles, and I knew it was a tough field. I just tried to maintain focus when Kibet made his move."

"It was just Dan and me at 12 miles. He made a move I couldn't cover, but I'm pleased with my finish."

So, too was Kibet, who slowed late in the race, but was never threatened. "I looked over my shoulder, but couldn't see anyone," said Kibet, whose lead in the second half of the race swelled to as much as 45 seconds. His winning time was 1:03:17.

In the women's division in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, Russia's Olga Romanova led a pack of eight through a sluggish 5K in 18:01. The group was still stuck in slow motion at the 10K mark, covered in 35:22, before Romanova and countrywoman Lioudmila Kortchaguina decided it was time to step it up.

The pair surged and stayed together over the next several miles before Romanova, 24, made a decisive move.

"I ran really hard the last mile and a half," said Romanova, whose 2005 goal is to represent her country on the track at this summer's World Championships. "I think I ran a smart race."

Romanova's winning time of 1:12:36 was 19 seconds better than Kortchaguina. Colleen De Reuck, 40, who won the Houston Half last year, was the top American women. Her 1:14:05 was good for fifth.

In the accompanying 33rd running of the HP Houston Marathon, David Cheruiyot, of Kenya, and hometown girl Kelly Keane, from Houston suburb The Woodlands, were victorious. Cheruiyot, 34, led from mile 9 and won in 2:14:50, while Keane grasped the lead from Poland's Wioletta Kryza at mile 21 to win in a nearly four- minute PR of 2:32:27.

An HP Houston Marathon record of 17,206 runners participated in the marathon, half-marathon and companion 5K.

Aramco Houston Half Marathon: USA Men's Championship
Houston, TX, Sunday, January 16, 2005

MEN
1. Julius Kibet (KEN) 1:03:17, $5,000
2. Dan Browne (USA/OR) 1:03:56, $3,500, plus $5,000 for USA title
3. Matt Gabrielson (USA/MN) 1:04:06, $2,500 (plus $3,500 U.S.)
4. Jason Lehmukuhle (USA/MN), 1:04:08, $1,500 (plus $2,000 U.S.)
5. Chris Gaff (USA/CA), 1:04:17, $750 (plus $1,750 U.S.)
6. Matt Lane (USA/CA), 1:04:18, $1,500 U.S.
7. Justin Young (USA/CO), 1:04:36, $1,250 U.S.
8. Peter De La Cerda (USA/CO), 1:04:48, $1,000 U.S.
9. Mike Morgan (USA/NE), 1:04:48, $750 U.S.
10. Calvin Staples (CAN), 1:05:00

WOMEN
1. Olga Romanova (RUS), 1:12:36, $5,000
2. Lioudmila Kortchaguina (RUS), 1:12:55, $3,500
3. Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova (RUS), 1:13:26, $2,500
4. Nicole Stevenson (CAN), 1:13:37, $1,500
5. Colleen De Reuck (USA/CO), 1:14:05, $750
6. Lyubov Denisova (RUS), 1:14:30
7. Dana Coons (USA/MN), 1:15:00
8. Garina Alexandrova (RUS), 1:16:01
9. Ann Gaffigan (USA/NE), 1:17:12
10. Katie Blackett (USA/CO), 1:17:26

33rd Houston Marathon
MEN
1. David Cheruiyot (KEN), 2:14:50, $10,000
2. Andrej Naumov (UKR), 2:15:16, $8,000
3. Marek Jaroszewski (POL), 2:15:34, $6,000
4. Dmitry Burmakin (RUS), 2:22:13, $4,000
5. Tesfaye Eticha (ETH), 2:24:57, $2,000

WOMEN
1. Kelly Keane (USA/TX), 2:32:27, $10,000
2. Wioletta Kryza (POL), 2:35:25, $8,000
3. Kay Ulrich (NZL), 2:39:08, $6,000
4. Maria Portilla (Peru), 2:40:59, $4,000
5. Magdalene Karimali (Greece), 2:45:29, $2,000