The Houston Marathon is an annual marathon held every January in Houston, Texas. With thousands of runners and spectators, it is the largest single day sporting event in the city. It is run concurrently with a half marathon and a 5 km race. The 2007 race included the first-ever satellite running of the event, run simultaneously in Fallujah, Iraq. The first marathon, run onDecember 30, 1972, featured 113 runners and a crowd of approximately 200 people. The 2014 edition included a 5K event run Saturday, January 18th and the marathon and half marathon run on Sunday, January 19th. The 5K event had close to 5,000 runners while the marathon and half marathon had nearly 13,000 runners each. The races bring crowds of nearly one half million to view the runners. The 1979 edition of the competition hosted the national marathon championship race for men and women. Houston was selected for the women's Olympic Trials in 1992 and held the USATF women's marathon championship in 1998. The half marathon course hosted the USATF Men's Half Marathon Championship from 2005 to 2008, and also hosted the women's event in 2007 and 2008. The 2012 U.S Olympic Marathon Trials for both men and women were held the Saturday prior to the Sunday races. George W. Bush ran in the Houston Marathon at age 46 in 1993, finishing with the time of 3 hours, 44 minutes, 52 seconds. The current corporate sponsor of the marathon is Chevron Corporation. Aramco sponsors the half marathon and Chevron and Aramco co-sponsor the 5K run. The event supports many charities, including CanCare, Texas Children's Hospital, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Course
The fast and flat course starts in the downtown area near Minute Maid Park and takes runners past scenic Houston areas and communities—including Houston Heights and Neartown, past Hermann Park and Rice University, over to Uptown, and then through Memorial Park and Allen Parkway, finishing at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown. The course is USATF certified and is popular with runners seeking to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The race time limit is 6 hours and a limit of 27,000 entries is enforced, divided evenly between the full and half marathons. The course was changed for 2014. Changes included starting on Congress St. downtown, eliminating a section of the course through the Heights, and adding 2 miles along Kirby Dr.
