Patrick Dever runs 60:11 at Houston Half Marathon – AW

The long-distance runner goes fourth on the UK half-marathon all-time list after his fifth place finish in Texas

Patrick Dever has kicked off his 2025 campaign with an outstanding run of 60:11 at the Houston Half Marathon (January 19).

The Brit, who represented Great Britain in the 5000m at the Paris Olympics, placed fifth in a record-breaking race over 13.1 miles in Texas.

Dever has now catapulted himself to fourth on the UK half-marathon all-time list – only Mo Farah (59:31), Callum Hawkins (60:00) and Emile Cairess (60:01) have gone quicker.

This was only Dever’s second ever half-marathon – he clocked 63:02 in his debut at the 2023 Philadelphia Distance Run – and he was also the top European in the field in Houston.

The 28-year-old has a rich background on the track and over cross-country, representing Great Britain at multiple major global championships.

At last year’s Olympics, Dever ran in the 5000m and finished 13th in his heat in the French capital.

His personal best over 5000m stands at 13:04.05 – set at last year’s Boston University DMR Challenge – which saw Dever rise to sixth on the UK all-time list.

Dever, who ran a best of 27:08.81 in the 10,000m last March, is the second quickest Brit in history over 25 laps – only Mo Farah has gone faster.

During an exclusive interview with AW last April, Dever described himself as a bit of a “nerd” and would study the lap splits of 10,000m athletes such as Farah.

Dever has also competed at a myriad of European Cross Country Championships, with a highest finish of fifth at the 2018 edition in Tilburg.

A prodigy in the NCAA system, Dever represented Tulsa and his greatest victory at collegiate level came at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships, beating Conner Mantz in the 10,000m at Hayward Field.

Remarkably, the two were both in the same field at this weekend’s Houston Half Marathon, with Mantz setting a US record over 13.1 miles of 59:17.

A look at that photo finish in the Houston Half 📷

Addisu Gobena 🇪🇹 and Conner Mantz both dig deep at the line for the win, but it’s Gobena who gets credited with the title. Both men clock 59:17.#HoustonHalf

📸: Max McNerney pic.twitter.com/ltrwbUH5aZ

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) January 19, 2025

In an all-time classic finish at the Texas event, Mantz just missed out on the victory – Ethiopia’s Addisu Gobena also clocked 59:17 and was given the win – but did obliterate Ryan Hall’s national mark of 59:43 from 2007.

In the women’s field, Ethiopia’s Senayet Getachew clocked 66:05 and edged out Weini Kelati by just four seconds.

Kelati, who ran 66:25 at last year’s Houston Half Marathon, also broke her own US record in Texas.

Jessica Warner-Judd, who just last week clocked 31:50 at the Valencia 10km, placed 11th in Houston with 69:07.

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