Athletics: Hitomi Niiya wins Houston Marathon, just misses Japanese record

Japan's Hitomi Niiya ran away with the Houston Marathon women's title Sunday, finishing 12 seconds outside the course record in a personal-best 2 hours, 19 minutes and 24 seconds.The national 10,000-meter and half-marathon record-holder, Niiya fell just short in her bid to break Mizuki Noguchi's Japanese marathon record of 2:19:12, set at the 2005 Berlin Marathon.She crossed the finish line more than six minutes ahead of runner-up Muliye Dekeb Haylemariyam of Ethiopia, who had set the early pace on the downtown Houston course."There were painful moments but my supporters gave me a big boost…READ FULL ARTICLE