Houston Marathon

The organiser says the start line “is on Congress Avenue at Fannin” and that entry to the start corrals is “only a few blocks from the George R. Brown Convention Center.” The finish is “at Lamar and Crawford, one block up from the George R. Brown Convention Center,” so the whole day, from gear check to the reunion area, sits within a short walk of the line. The marathon and half marathon share one start. The elite field goes at 6:55 a.m. “followed immediately by both the marathon and half marathon open fields,” in six corrals, with corrals C to F released in a pulsed start. The organiser’s timing chart has the first runners at the finish at 9:13 a.m. Both distances run on USATF-certified courses, and the organiser says Boston accepts times from the race.

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The organiser’s table gives the marathon a limit of “6 hours (chip)” and a minimum pace of 13:45 per mile. The half marathon and the marathon share the course “up to Mile 7.6.” A marathon runner who cannot hold the pace before that split “will be redirected to the half-marathon course”; after it, a runner behind the pace “will be directed by the Houston Police Department to board the final Support and Gear (SAG) vans.” The checkpoints are mile 7.6 at 9:40 a.m. and mile 20 at 12:20 p.m. The organiser says the street permit requires it to reopen roads on a rolling schedule as the event passes.

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The list starts at mile 1, Washington and Sabine, where a performer serenades runners “as they take their first steps.” Charity cheer stations line West Gray, Kirby and Bissonnet between miles 3 and 6, and Westheimer and Kirby (mile 5.5) and Kirby and Norfolk (mile 6) follow. Mile 11 is University and Auden near West University Place City Hall. Post Oak Boulevard is at mile 14. Miles 19 to 21 are on Memorial Drive, “Three miles of live music and Texas-style energy,” with a cheer zone at the Memorial Park land bridge tunnels at mile 20.5 (Memorial and North Picnic Lane). Miles 23 and 24 run along Allen Parkway at Buffalo Bayou Park, which the organiser calls “challenging hills” with big sidewalks for cheer squads. The course page puts more than 250,000 spectators along the route.

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The FAQ gives averages from previous editions: a low of 45°F, a high of 63°F and a mean of 54°F. The race is on a January morning, with the gun at 6:55 a.m. The surface is “a 50/50 mix of concrete and asphalt/blacktop.” On rain: “The race will go on regardless of precipitation,” and it is cancelled only “if weather conditions present imminent danger to participants.”

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