2006 USA Men's Half Marathon Championship
hosted by the Aramco Houston Half Marathon

January 15, 2006
Houston, Texas

Brian Sell, the 2005 USA 25 km champion, leads the U.S. contingent at the 2006 USA Men's Half Marathon Championship in Houston, Texas. The championship, hosted by the Aramco Houston Half Marathon this Sunday, also marks the start of the 2006 USA Running Circuit (USARC).

The top U.S. finisher at last summer's IAAF World Championships Marathon, Sell leads a field that includes Hansons-Brooks Distance Project and World Championship teammates, Clint Verran and Chad Johnson.

The field also includes 2005 runner-up Matt Gabrielson, along with his Team USA Minnesota teammate Jason Lehmkuhle, who was fourth in last year's championship. Chris Graff will be looking to add to his 2003 USA Ten Mile Championship, and Jason Hartmann, who along with Lehmkuhle was a member of last year's U.S. team at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Edmonton, Canada, looks to contend as well.

The Aramco Houston Half Marathon, which includes open athletes, offers a purse of $21,000 to the top ten U.S. athletes with $7,000 going to first place. The race also will be used to select two athletes for the 2006 IAAF World Road Running Championships to be held October 8 in Debrecen, Hungary.