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The Houston Marathon, currently
sponsored by Chevron, is the first of the large US
marathons of the year, taking place as it does in
early January. In the sense of what comprises a
significant marathon event we regard anything that
acts as a qualifying event for one of the marathon
majors, and Houston is one of the qualifiers for
Boston. I've always been intrigued
by watching marathon races and the extreme endurance
levels involved, although I must confess I've never
actually completed a full one personally. The best
I've managed is a half marathon, the Great North
Run, but going the full distance is very much on the
bucket list, with exotic venues such as New York,
Paris and Rome places I would love to take part in.
The Houston event, however, does look a very
interesting course and friendly venue, and I will be
watching it with great interest (see streaming
options further down the page) as the great state of
Texas is somewhere I would very much like to visit
and spend some time. This event is
part of a triumvirate that includes the Dallas White
Rock Marathon and the Austin Marathon in what is
known as the Marathons of Texas, and the full
weekend also includes a half marathon and a 5km
event. Participants in the full marathon typically
number in the region of 15,000 and a live crowd of
around 200,000 spectators is normally expected,
possibly more if the weather remains clement, and
with many more watching on TV or online. |
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The course starts on a rolling
corral basis from 7am local time in the city's
iconic Minute Maid Park and finishes downtown at the
George R. Brown Convention Center. There is an
official time limit of 6 hours.
Also along the race route are:
Houston Heights
Neartown
Hermann Park
Rice University
Uptown
Memorial Park
Allen Parkway
There is a full downloadable PDF
map of the course here:
Houston Marathon Course Map
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The Houston marathon is this year
being broadcast live on TV by ABC13, which also has
a live online streaming option:
Houston Marathon on ABC13
There are also a number of videos of the marathon on
Youtube, including past event finishes and previews
for this year's event:
Houston Marathon on Youtube |
