I believe this marathon was started in 2000 by Rick Worley who was an avid marathoner. He was tragically killed in an accident in 2010 and I believe the marathon is now in his memory.
History: Rick Worley was the reason for starting the Texas Marathon in 2000. He was working on setting a Guinness World Record for the most marathons on consecutive weekends when he ran 200 in 159 consecutive weeks. There was not a marathon being held during the Christmas weekend in 1999, which would have broken Rick's streak. We organized the Free Kingwood Marathon and held it on 12/26/99. Rick went to Ohio to run a series of marathons between Christmas and New Year's. He needed a marathon on New Year's Day and could only find a very difficult ultra marathon. We offered to organize another marathon six days after the Free Kingwood Marathon using the same course, with a new name, "Jammin' in January" and held it on New Year's Day. The race has been held on New Year's Day every year since then. Rick completed the Texas Marathon four times and participated in it every year until 2006 when he injured his ankle. He completed 299 marathons including at least four in every state and also at least one on six continents. Rick Worley was tragically killed in a traffic accident on 7/25/10. We send our love to Rick's family. We will miss Rick, his laugh and his love of friends, family and marathoning. . -paula&steve
Entry fee:
All events: $80.00 thru 4/30 $85.00 5/1-Race Day
Registration: Registration is now closed. The race has filled, to be added to the wait list, please send us an email including your name, place of residence, event, and date you must be notified by. If you are a 50 States Marathon Club member, active duty military, or a Texas Marathon veteran, please include that information. Please send your email to steveboone@aol.com. Slots will probably not become available before November.
Refund, Transfer, Donation and Carry Forward:
If you are unable or unwilling or simply change your mind about participating in the Texas Marathon/Half 2015, we have several options available to participants who let us know before December 1st. We have several hundred people on the wait list and they would love to take your place. (NO tripping or use of voodoo dolls of current participants is allowed!!) Please email steveboone@aol.com as soon as possible so that we can accomodate any requests.
*You may request a refund and we will send you your entry fee less $10 irritation fee. Please request a refund by November 30th. No refunds after December 1st.
*If you have a friend that would be willing to take your place, we will transfer your entry to them for the same $10 irritation fee. Please request transfers by December 1st. We must receive the transfer form by December 10th. No transfers will be filled after December 15th.
*If you would like to donate your entry to one of our military people on the wait list, we will do it for no fee. Please let us know by December 15th so that we can notify a military person on our wait list and allow them time to make plans.
*If you would like to defer until 2016, we will hold a spot for one year only with no irritation fee. You must let us know by December 1st to use this option so that we can notify a local runner. If you do not participate in 2016, your entry will be forfeited.
Events:
Marathon (26.2 miles-4 loops)
Half Marathon (13.1 miles-2 loops)
Course description:
Four loops on greenbelts in Kingwood, starting at the Greentree Pool, proceeding to Lake Houston and returning to the Greentree Pool. The course is run entirely on concrete greenbelt trails which are open to the public
Race limit:
The race has a limit of 700 participants.
T-shirts, medals, and stuff:
Each participant and volunteer will receive a shirt. Each finisher will receive a custom finisher medal and a squeezie elephant with the finishing position hanging around its neck. Each registered participant will receive a goody bag. (The finisher medals are a secret until race day). The Texas Marathon started as a marathon event only. Later we added a half marathon to accomodate family members and local runners in the interest of promoting the sport. We became that our event has changed its focus from a marathon to a half. This was not our intention. We heard several runners comment that there was no reason to run the marathon when they would receive the same medal for running the half. We agreed. For the 2013 and all future events, marathoners will receive the really large medal and half marathoners will receive a substantial, yet smaller one. We feel this is in the best interest of the marathon sport.
Awards:
We have designated 2014 as the "year of the squeezie elephant". Each finisher will receive a squeezie elephant with the official finishing position hanging around its neck. Don't blame us if you have a very slow elephant. Last year was the "year of the squeezie cheesie rat" and the prior years have been: "year of the pink pig", "year of the yellow rubber duck", "year of the bat", "year of the monkey" , "year of the bear", and "year of the cow". There are no age group awards because every runner is special.
The Charity:
The net proceeds of this race will be donated to the Marathon Challenge running program.
Marathon Challenge Program:
Twenty two years ago we were repeatedly asked by PTA parents "How far was that marathon?". After deciding that it nearly impossible to teach adults what a marathon was, we would teach their children. We came up with a program in our local school called the Marathon Challenge Program. The program promotes fitness for elementary school students by providing t-shirts to the students who complete 26.2 miles or more of running/walking during the school year. The first year we had 14 students complete the distance. Each year we've added schools in the area to the program. In 2013 9,300 students completed the distance and received t-shirts. The program has provided thousands of t-shirts to children for 21 years. The progam is funded entirely by private donations. Every dollar donated goes directly to the students.
More information can be found here:
www.50statesmarathon club.com/texas.html
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