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.

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.[1][2] 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.[2] The program gave away 5,000 pairs of new running shoes to children in 2017.[3][4]

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.[5]

The Cowtown marathon and ultra marathon are Boston Marathon qualifying events.[6] 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.[7]

Notable events

In 2012 Scott Downard of Norman, Oklahoma, 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.[8]

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.[9]

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.[10]

In 2023 The Cowtown Marathon hosted the USATF National Half Marathon Championships. Jacob Thompson won the men's division with a time of 1:02:38. Aliphine Tuliamuk won the women's division with a time of 1:09:37. [11]

References

  1. ^ "Campus Connection". www.hsc.unt.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  2. ^ a b Cowtown Marathon - 2012 Brochure Archived 2012-02-01 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "The Cowtown C.A.L.F. Program". The Cowtown. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  4. ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). www.cowtownmarathon.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  5. ^ Cowtown Marathon - Course Maps Archived 2012-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Cowtown Marathon - FAQs Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Cowtown Kids 5K race grows into best in nation, (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, February 24, 2012)
  8. ^ Cowtown marathon's first finisher disqualified; runner-up wins - Fort Worth Star-Telegram
  9. ^ Elite runner shatters record in Cowtown ultra marathon
  10. ^ "Course Record Broken at 38th Cowtown Marathon". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  11. ^ Results USATF Half Marathon Championships 2023