HOUSTON – Organizers for the Houston Marathon announced new courses for next year's Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon.
The Houston Marathon Committee, along with the City of Houston said Tuesday that the new marathon courses will provide a better experience for runners by giving them more space and wider roads to run on.
Changes to the courses include a combined start line on Congress Avenue, as well as the first eight miles of both races being run together through the River Oaks and Upper Kirby neighborhoods before splitting near Rice University.
Other changes include:
- Instead of leaving downtown via the Elysian Viaduct, runners will leave along the Washington Corridor.
- The Aramco Houston Half Marathon will then head back north through Montrose and along the Buffalo Bayou before finishing downtown.
- The Chevron Houston Marathon will continue on to Rice Boulevard and West University before heading back to the previous course at Post Oak Boulevard. Memorial is then utilized instead of Woodway to add distance and visual appeal to the course. From there, the prior course is maintained through to the finish line downtown.
Event organizers said lottery registration for marathon and half marathon will be open until June 20. The selected runners will be announced on June 24.
The 2014 races will start at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 19.
The 2014 Race Weekend will also play host to the U.S. Half Marathon Championships, to be run in conjunction with the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, as well as the ABB 5K which will held on Saturday, January 18.
For more information on the Chevron Houston Marathon Race Weekend, click here.