Hannah Box's Staging Area

As a Fort Worth native, I have always had my eye on this race. I moved out of state right out of college and it took about 10 years to get back home. After arriving home, it didn’t take long before I signed myself up for the Cowtown half marathon. I have heard great things of this race for years and was excited to finally get to partake in the event!

Now that the race has come and gone, I can confidently say it did not disappoint! It was a joy to run through the highlights of the city where I was born and raised. The weather was sunny and a little warmer than usual which opened the door for some great early morning running temps! I know this time of the year can be very unpredictable weather-wise, so that was a blessing. Water stations and porta-potties seemed to be fairly readily available along the course, which is always appreciated! The first half of the race felt pretty “easy” as the course was relatively flat. Running through the stockyards was really cool, even for someone who is from the area. Live music and crowds lined the street and businesses, which made the race really fun. The hardest part of the race is definitely the long steady uphill fight to the Tarrant County Court House downtown. Awesome view but a beast of a climb! Running downtown provided a bit of a reprieve to catch your breath before a few more hills and the downhill mile stretch to the finish. By far, the most impressive were the spectators. I have run many races over the years and this was definitely the biggest, in terms of crowds and encouragement, which was so awesome and much needed, especially through some of those elevations. The layout of the course was really neat. I personally very much enjoyed it and even enjoyed some of the more challenging aspects. It is a race I’d recommend training for but one where you will feel the pride and pay off of the hard work, indefinitely!

My only complaint and warning would be regarding the traffic prior to arriving. Next time, I will definitely arrive earlier than suggested, to allow for ample time to park, warm up, stretch, go to the bathroom and remove any unnecessary stress. I am very familiar with the area and where the prepaid parking lot was located (would definitely recommend the prepaid parking location-steps away from the start/finish), however, upon arrival, I felt that parking was not very well designated and left a lot of travelers confused. We felt that we had arrived with plenty of time but ended up being pretty rushed in the end. My husband was driving, so I actually ended up hopping out of the car to get in my warm up run and stretch in. If I had not done that, there would not have been time to do so after finding a parking space. There were hundreds of porta-potties that faced the entrance to the corrals. In theory, this set up seemed fine but once thousands of people arrived, it was pretty chaotic. It was hard to distinguish between the line to the bathroom and people trying to make their way to their corral or just trying to find their way around. This was also pretty stressful. Being a first time runner of this race, I was a little dazed and confused but eventually found my way.

I will also add that I really appreciated the corral system. This was my first race where these were enforced and I felt that they were very well organized, marked visibly and managed well. I have been to too many races where the start felt like a stampede free-for-all. The corral assignment felt as if runners had space to not only run but breathe at the start!

Overall, I really enjoyed this race! The course layout was a good mix of easy, moderate and challenging, the views were awesome, and the support was even better! Police did a wonderful job clearing the streets and allowing runners to have a very easy route to run. You can really tell this event is one that the city takes a lot of pride in hosting! The last mile stretch was definitely one to remember. Hundreds of people cheering you on as you race to the finish, very awesome! Lots of water, great food, post run celebrations, swag and care once finished. The finisher medals were really cool too! I had a blast at this race and look forward to running it again next year. Hopefully to complete the full marathon instead of the half!