Cowtown Marathon

The Cowtown Marathon is an annual marathon held every last weekend in February in Fort Worth, Texas. The two-day activities include two 5Ks, a 10K, the half marathon, marathon and ultra marathon. With 29,000 participants in 2014,[1] the Cowtown is the largest multi-event in Texas.[2]

The Cowtown Marathon was founded by the University of North Texas Health Science Center in 1978, with proceeds benefiting local charities and non-profit organizations.[3][4] The Cowtown Children's Activities for Life & Fitness Program provides training, grants and running shoes to children in need. Current non-profits include the American Cancer Society, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and Team RWB which is a support organization for wounded veterans and their families.[4] The program gave away 5,000 pairs of new running shoes to children in 2017.[5][6]

The races start and end in Fort Worth's cultural district, run through the Stockyards, go through downtown and circle TCU and Fort Worth's southside. Elevation changes can range up to 150 ft.[7]

The Cowtown marathon and ultra marathon are Boston Marathon qualifying events.[8] The Cowtown Cook Children's 5K race was named the top kids running event in the nation by USA Running, with 5,300 children registered to run in 2012.[9]

Notable events

In 2012 Scott Downard of Norman, Okla., finished first in the Cowtown marathon by outrunning his competitors by more than six minutes. However, Downard was disqualified because he was not registered and he was wearing another person's bib. Runner-up Kolin Styles became the winner. Styles' brother Koby won the ultra marathon.[10]

In 2014 Michael Wardian, a four-time USA Track and Field Ultra Runner of the Year, sped around the 31-mile course in 3 hours and 21 minutes, shattering the course record by slightly more than 10 minutes.[11]

In 2015 Cowtown and city officials cancelled all events except the half-marathon, citing safety concerns about the secondary streets in shaded neighborhoods because of a snow and ice storm. About 30,000 runners had registered for the weekend's races.[12][13]

In 2016, Elizabeth Northern of Fort Worth, TX finished the Ultra Marathon in 3:21:04, beating the previous course record by over 30 minutes.[14]

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References
  1. Course Records Broken at 36th Cowtown Marathon
  2. The Cowtown Celebrates 35 Years with New Records - Running USA, February 27, 2013
  3. Cowtown marathon to include UNTHSC name Archived 2013-09-10 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Cowtown Marathon - 2012 Brochure Archived 2012-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "The Cowtown C.A.L.F. Program". The Cowtown. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  6. The Cowtown Provides Grants And New Balance Running Shoes To 2,100 Local School Children Archived 2013-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Cowtown Marathon - Course Maps Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Cowtown Marathon - FAQs Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Cowtown Kids 5K race grows into best in nation (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Feb. 24, 2012)
  10. Cowtown marathon's first finisher disqualified; runner-up wins - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
  11. Elite runner shatters record in Cowtown ultra marathon
  12. Cowtown cancels marathon, ultra; half still on
  13. Cowtown Marathon, Ultra Marathon canceled Sunday; half-marathon will go on
  14. "Course Record Broken at 38th Cowtown Marathon". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
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