Rory Linkletter runs under 1 hour to break Canadian half marathon record for 2nd time in 4 years
Calgary native beats previous record holder Cam Levins by 69 seconds in Houston
Rory Linkletter says he only visits Houston to run fast, and no Canadian has run quicker over 21.1 kilometres than he did there on a cool Sunday morning.
Linkletter finished the Houston Half Marathon in 59 minutes 49 seconds, the first-ever Canadian under one hour, and beat former record holder Cam Levins by 69 seconds.
"Breaking 60 [minutes] is big, it means a lot," Linkletter told CBC Sports after the race. "I knew I could do it but to be the first Canadian, that will always mean something. I think it pairs well with the path I'm on [in the marathon].
"I think Houston is a place I only go to when I want to run fast, so it just feels like that sort of stage for me."
Levins, from Black Creek, B.C., crossed the finish in 1:00:58 for 18th among 6,776 men, 40 seconds off his Canadian record from the 2023 Vancouver First Half Marathon.
For the Calgary-born Linkletter, who placed seventh, it was the second time in four years he lowered the national mark in Houston.
On Jan. 16, 2022, Linkletter ran 1:01:08 to eclipse Jeff Schiebler's 61:28 performance over 21.1 kilometres from Jan. 15, 1999 in Tokyo. Linkletter debuted in Houston in 2020 (1:01:44) and went 1:01:02 in 2024.
"It's a race, not paced, you just go out and compete," said the 29-year-old Linkletter. "My brain does best in those settings. I had no clue what was going to happen [in Sunday's race]. I like that, and the course has a nice rhythm to it."
Linkletter, who had his coach Jon Green and training partners cheering him on the course, spoke to Levins after the race and said the Black Creek, B.C. native congratulated him and was gracious in defeat.
"I told him I was grateful for his inspiration; he paved the way," Linkletter said. "His whole career is next level. It meant a lot to me to get that record because he made it one worth chasing."
Said Levins: "He ran incredible and I'm happy for him. [Him] telling me he couldn't have got [here] without the standard I set is kind and flattering. But he's the standard setter now, obviously."
3 half marathon wins over Levins
Before Sunday, Linkletter’s half marathon personal best was 1:00:57, set in Marugame, Japan last Feb. 2.
He has defeated the 36-year-old Levins in each of their three half marathon showdowns.
The first was in Houston six years ago when Linkletter finished 15th, 30 seconds ahead of Levins, who was 30th.
Five months ago in Edmonton, Linkletter ran to his 1st Canadian title in 1:03 flat, beating the three-time defending champion by one second in a sprint to the finish.
Levins took note of his opponent's speed and returned home to Portland, Ore., to improve his speed performance.
"I'm happy with how my speed has improved through workouts and weight training," he told CBC Sports. "A decent last couple hundred metres [in Sunday's race] reinforced that.
"It wasn't a great sign my legs felt heavy [early on] when we actually had a slow first [1.6 km]. I'm glad I didn't give up and had a relatively good showing. At the very least, I have some solid fitness [for] the rest of my build [until a spring marathon]."
First, Levins will try to lower the national half marathon record, returning to B.C. on Feb. 8 to race the Vancouver First Half, considered Canada’s fastest 21.1 km competition.
Linkletter, who lives in Flagstaff, Ariz., said he'll probably run one more half marathon in the spring and two marathons he expects to be announced in the near future. The father of two (his wife Jill is pregnant with their third child) also intends to compete at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in September in Copenhagen.
Last year, Linkletter twice placed top 10 in a marathon major, most recently in October when he stopped the clock in a 2:06:49 PB for ninth in Chicago, just over a minute shy of Levins’s Canadian record (2:05:36) from the 2023 Tokyo Marathon.
It also stood as the North American mark until Conner Mantz of the United States shaved 53 seconds off it with his fourth-place finish last fall in Chicago.
Linkletter raced Levins in the 2024 Paris Olympic marathon, where Levins was 36th (2:11:56) racing with a broken heel bone, 11 spots ahead of Linkletter (2:13:09).
Canada's Mawhinney sets big marathon PB
Meanwhile, Erin Mawhinney of Hamilton was the lone elite Canadian runner to race the Houston Marathon on Sunday.
The 2025 Toronto Waterfront half marathon champion placed fifth in a field of 3,078 women's runners and lowered her personal-best time by nearly seven minutes to 2:29:36, a little over five minutes behind winner Calli Hauger-Thackery of Great Britain (2:24:17).
Mawhinney, who posted a DNF (did not finish) at The Marathon Project last month in Chandler, Ariz., entered Sunday's race ranked as the sixth-fastest elite woman.
Excluding The Marathon Project, Houston was only Mawhinney's second marathon since she made her debut two years ago at the Toronto Waterfront event.
Mawhinney is coached by two-time Canadian Olympic marathoner Reid Coolsaet.
Ahmed exits 10 km race with hamstring cramping
Cramping in Moh Ahmed's right hamstring, not a recurrence of a left calf injury, forced him to exit early from the men's senior 10 km race at Saturday's World Athletics Cross-Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla.
"The hamstring got [quite] stiff coming out of the sandpit and wouldn't let go," the four-time Canadian Olympic track runner told CBC Sports. "I'm super bummed. I wanted a good [race] here and came in [as] fit and healthy as I've been in a while."
Ahmed, who stepped off the course after the 3 km mark, noted "the calf is the best it's been" since before he first strained it last July 31 in the men's 5,000-metre final at the Canadian track and field championships in Ottawa. He then aggravated the injury three times leading into the World Athletics Championships last summer and again in the men's 10,000 final, exiting early.
Canada results at cross-country worlds
Mixed 4x2 km relay — Foster Malleck, Jean-Simon Desgagnés, Kate Current and Regan Yee were ninth of 15 teams in 23 minutes 43 seconds, 20 seconds behind the winning Australian foursome. Current was part of Canada's 2023 squad in Bathurst, Australia that placed eighth (24:55) while Yee and the Canadians were seventh (27:57) in 2019 in Aarhus, Denmark.
Men's senior 10 km — Evan Burke (38th in 30 minutes 31 seconds), Xavier Perras-Phaneuf (48th, 31:05), Matt Talbot (57th, 31:34), Philippe Morneau-Cartier (61st, 31:38), Santiago Gaitan (92nd, 33:37). Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo won his 3rd straight world cross title in 28:18.
Women's U20 6 km — Adrianna Buitelaar (18th of 65 finishers, 20 minutes 45 seconds), Eleanor Voykin (30th, 21:19), Kayley Torrie (40th, 21:49), Athena Andrecyk (43rd, 22:02), Zoe Mosher (47th, 22:14), Riley Innes (59th, 23:02). Marta Alemayo of Ethiopia won in 18:52.
Men's U20 8 km — Brody Clark (26th of 69 finishers, 25 minutes 29 seconds), Chase Capes (37th, 26:03), Saul Taler (41st, 26:18), William Scharf (44th, 26:22), Oliver Crowe (54th, 27:28), Eli Torrie (63rd, 28:01). Frankline Kibet led a Kenyan medal sweep in 23:18.
Women's senior 10 km — Chloe Thomas (31st of 75 finishers, 34 minutes 46 seconds), Makenna Fitzgerald (38th, 35:17), Grace Featherstonhaugh (42nd, 35:32), Ceili McCabe (47th, 35:47), Florence Caron (57th, 36:31), Glynis Sim (59th, 37:04). Kenya's Agnes Ngetich won gold in 31:28 for her first world title.
Lumb 1st Canadian under 28 minutes in road 10K
Vancouver's Kieran Lumb set a new Canadian road racing record on Sunday (pending ratification) at the 10 km Valencia Ibercaja by Kiprun in Spain. His 27-minute 50-second performance tops the 28:06 effort by now-retired competitive runner Charles Philibert-Thiboutot last May in Ottawa.
The 27-year-old Lumb, whose previous best was 28:43, moved to Norway last summer to work with Gjert Ingebrigtsen, the estranged father of two-time Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
After a quiet stretch through the early part of his 2025 season, Lumb felt he had plateaued in his performances after a slow start to the 2025 campaign. “I spoke to my coach Andy [Powell at the University of Washington in Seattle] and told him how I felt. I started exploring other setups," Lumb told Canadian Running last year.
"I loved the setup,” Lumb said of Ingebrigtsen's group. “This is a step I felt I needed to take to figure out how good I can be."
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