About The Cowtown

Our rich, forty-five-year history began back in 1979, when we offered just two distances, a 10K and marathon. In 1998, a new distance was added, the 5K, and the response was huge, with more than 5,000 entrants during the first year. 2003 brought us yet another new race category, the Kids 5K, which holds a special appeal to families and children. The half marathon was added in 2005. In 2008, we celebrated the addition of the final distance to our repertoire, the Ultra Marathon, and a huge milestone of thirty years in the business.

As we have grown and set records for registration numbers and become the largest multi-event race in the state of Texas (2017), we have not forgotten that it is our runners who have blessed us with our successes.

To that end, we established a children’s program in 2009 called The C.A.L.F. (Children’s Activities for Life and Fitness) Program, geared toward promoting health and physical fitness in our community—spanning sixteen school districts and serving more than 5,000 students per year. The focus of that mission is providing grants for brand-new running shoes to low-income children, and offering those students a discounted entry fee for our children’s race. In 2019, The C.A.L.F. Program will celebrate a heartwarming anniversary of ten years. In that time, The Cowtown Marathon has donated 28,000 pairs of running shoes and cheered thousands of students across their first 5K finish line. 

In 2011, military ‘satellite runs’ were added to our mission to give back. This opportunity allows military troops to run Cowtown Marathon race distances from wherever they happen to be serving our country, no matter the continent or time zone. By giving these men and women a promotional code, they register at no cost, run the race of their choice, and receive a care package from The Cowtown Marathon, with their race shirts, medals, and anything we can send to show our appreciation to these heroes for making America great.

Finally, in 2018, we celebrated our fortieth anniversary—a milestone we don’t take lightly. We’ve learned during that time how to reinvent ourselves, to accommodate the evolving needs of the running community, to change courses/venues when necessary, and to embrace new challenges and opportunities, such as hosting the 2023 USATF Half Marathon Championships for our forty-fifth anniversary.