Houston, Texas: Zouhair Talbi becomes first American man to win Chevron Houston Marathon since 2002.
Talbi sets course record with blistering time of 2:05:45 and secures victory over Ethiopian competitor Adane Kebede Gebre.
"I knew I had under 2:06:00 in me, and I was just trying to find the perfect time," said Talbi, emphasizing that he picked Houston for its fast course.
Talbi finished ahead of Gebre with a time of 2:05:45. The victory comes on the heels of his U.S. Army reserve debut after migrating to America in 2025.
Talbi's win marks first time an American male has claimed the top spot since 2002, a milestone he was eager to achieve.
He outperformed Gebre by 29 seconds and credited the pacers for helping him stay on track.
"I'm grateful for the competition," said Talbi. "That's when I dug deeper."
Talbi was presented with the U.S. flag as part of his victory ceremony, an honor he has held close to his heart since moving to America.
He competed under the American flag in 2024 and finished in second place before going on to compete for Morocco at the Olympics.
The event also saw a stellar performance from Sara Hall, who broke the master's record by nearly two minutes with a time of 2:28:42.
Meanwhile, Habtom Samuel won the men's half-marathon event with an impressive 59-minute victory.
Fantaye Belayneh secured the women's half-marathon title with a finish time of 1:04:49.
The Chevron Houston Marathon drew over 30,000 athletes from across the U.S. and international borders, supported by millions of spectators who lined the course to cheer them on.
Despite not winning, an American woman did make history, as Sara Hall's performance edged closer to a record finish time.
Talbi sets course record with blistering time of 2:05:45 and secures victory over Ethiopian competitor Adane Kebede Gebre.
"I knew I had under 2:06:00 in me, and I was just trying to find the perfect time," said Talbi, emphasizing that he picked Houston for its fast course.
Talbi finished ahead of Gebre with a time of 2:05:45. The victory comes on the heels of his U.S. Army reserve debut after migrating to America in 2025.
Talbi's win marks first time an American male has claimed the top spot since 2002, a milestone he was eager to achieve.
He outperformed Gebre by 29 seconds and credited the pacers for helping him stay on track.
"I'm grateful for the competition," said Talbi. "That's when I dug deeper."
Talbi was presented with the U.S. flag as part of his victory ceremony, an honor he has held close to his heart since moving to America.
He competed under the American flag in 2024 and finished in second place before going on to compete for Morocco at the Olympics.
The event also saw a stellar performance from Sara Hall, who broke the master's record by nearly two minutes with a time of 2:28:42.
Meanwhile, Habtom Samuel won the men's half-marathon event with an impressive 59-minute victory.
Fantaye Belayneh secured the women's half-marathon title with a finish time of 1:04:49.
The Chevron Houston Marathon drew over 30,000 athletes from across the U.S. and international borders, supported by millions of spectators who lined the course to cheer them on.
Despite not winning, an American woman did make history, as Sara Hall's performance edged closer to a record finish time.
Yeh I think its great 2 see Talbi win 1st place 4 years after he moved 2 America, his hard work paid off & now hes holding the U.S flag high 
- 2:05:45 is pretty impressive! but honestly, who needs a bunch of random comments and spam in our main thread when we're trying to discuss stuff? can't we just have a clean conversation without all that noise? 
and btw, why do i need to see the same memes from last week again... 
, now let's see if he can keep it up and bring another title home 
gotta wonder how many miles he did on training runs though...also, did anyone catch Sara Hall's face when she broke the masters record? 
I think he's got skills and was meant for this 
He trained hard and chose the perfect course, that's all the winning is 
- she's breaking records left & right 
. It's awesome to see more talented athletes emerging in the US 
He ran like crazy and broke all expectations! Fastest time since 2002! What's even crazier is he went from Morocco to USA & US Army reserve in like just one year! That's dedication & perseverance at its best! 
... wait, nope, he crushed it! 2:05:45 is fast, dude 
... nope, not him 
, it's Talbi all the way! And can we talk about how cool it is that he outperformed Gebre by 29 seconds? That's dedication 
... or maybe I am kinda right 
.
! He's been grinding for a long time, and it's amazing he finally broke that 2002 barrier 
? I'm loving his humility too - "I knew I had under 2:06 in me" gives me all the feels 
. Plus, it's awesome that he got to celebrate with the U.S. flag 
he deserves dat U.S flag presentation, so emotional 
love how he was determined to pick Houston for its fast course - talk about knowin your strengths 
totally insane she broke that master's record by nearly two minutes, what a runnin queen 
! Habtom Samuel and Fantaye Belayneh too, they crushed it in the half-marathon events 
. Can we get a repeat performance from Sara Hall next year? 
, still congrats to Talbi on this epic win 
it's like, a true American hero in my book!