Ethiopian Bazu Worku took home the men’s victory at the 2014 Houston Chevron Marathon Sunday, Jan. 19, with a dominant time of two hours, seven minutes and 32 seconds.   
Fellow Ethiopian Getachew Terfa finished in second with a time of 2:07:54, and Mexico’s Jose Antonio Uribe finished third with a time of 2:07:54.
It was an exciting edition of the race, as Ethiopian Abebech Bekele made a late surge and stole the victory on the women’s side, amassing an impressive time of 2:18:27.
Here is a look at the top finishers from the men's classification:
2014 Men's Houston Chevron Marathon Top 10 Results
FinishRunnerCountryTime
1Bazu WorkuEthiopia2:07:32
2Getachew TerfaEthiopia2:07:54
3Jose Antonio UribeMexico2:08:55
4Dadi Yami GemedaEthiopia2:11:08
5Dominic OndoroKenya2:11:43
6Kimutai CheruiyotKenya2:13:22
7Ian BurrellUSA2:13:26
8Senbeto GenetiEthiopia2:13:46
9Nikolay ChavkinRussia2:14:02
10Tim YoungUSA2:15:14
Source: HoustonMarathon.com
Here is a look at the top finishers from the women's classification:
2014 Women's Houston Chevron Marathon Top 10 Results
FinishRunnerCountryTime
1Abebech BekeleEthiopia2:25:52
2Meskerem AssefaEthiopia2:25:59
3Gelete BurkaEthiopia2:26:03
4Biruktait DegefaEthiopia2:26:22
5Makda HajiEthiopia2:27:37
6Tatiana AryasovaRussia2:34:19
7Kate BazeleyCanada2:40:49
8Zsofia ErdelyiHungary2:41:53
9Heather TannerUSA2:42:19
10Paula JuarezMexico2:44:02
Source: HoustonMarathon.com
*All results via HoustonMarathon.com.

While there is plenty of praise to go around for an impressive event, there is no discounting how dominant Worku’s performance was. As Dale Robertson of theHouston Chronicle tweets, the Ethiopian won on and off the course:


Worku did not manhandle his competition as many expected, though, with Terfufinishing just 22 seconds off his pace. Still, the two Ethiopian stars were the class of the field, with third-place finisher Uribe finishing 83 seconds off Worku’s winning pace.
As if winning first and second place on the men’s side wasn’t enough, Ethiopians DadiYami Gemeda and Senbeto Geneti managed to finish fourth and eighth respectively, totaling four top-10 finishers from Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian women also dominated the event.
Not only did Bekele win, but fellow Ethiopian women Meskerem AssefaGelete Burka,Biruktait Degefa and Makda Haji also performed at an elite level, rounding out the top five respectively.
Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reveals where Bekele’s performance ranks all time:


While it was clear that the nation of Ethiopia stole the show—Sunday’s win was the seventh in eight years for the men and the eighth consecutive victory for the women—the runners from the United States performed at a high level as well.
On the men’s side, Ian Burrell and Tim Young finished seventh and 10th respectively. On the women’s side, Heather Tanner was the sole representative of the United States in the top 10, finishing in ninth place.
The race was a grand spectacle that featured the city of Houston and its inhabitants rallying around the athletes. With top-level performances making the day even more impressive, this year’s event will be remembered as one of the best.