The Cox Running Club is organizing the Hell’s Half Acre! Join to see old friends and make new ones. Runners and race walkers from all over the community are welcome to come out and participate in the Cox Running Club events. Come on out and bring your family and friends to run, walk, and enjoy our entertainment. Come to run and stay for the fun!
History of a portion of Fort Worth also known as Hell’s Half Acre: (Wikipedia) In which is now home to the Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth City Hall, Omni Fort Worth, Fort Worth Water Gardens, and Sheraton Hotel.
Texas is a place where legends are made, die, and are revived. Fort Worth, Texas, claims its own legend – Hell’s Half Acre. Hell’s Half Acre was a rough and rowdy precinct of Fort Worth, Texas originating during the early to mid-1870s in the Old Wild West.
The half-acre block was originally designated from Tenth Street to Fifteenth Street while intersecting with Houston Street, Main Street, and Rusk Street with Throckmorton and Calhoun Streets established as boundaries. The Chisholm Trail and Texas and Pacific Railway were branded as the economic driving force leading to the progressive development of the rambunctious red-light district.
Hell’s Half Acre consisted of boarding houses, brothels, gambling parlors, hotels, saloons, and a sparse assortment of mercantile businesses. The twenty-two thousand square foot ward caught the glimpse of such Old West personalities as Bat Masterson, Butch Cassidy, Doc Holliday, Etta Place, Luke Short, Sam Bass, Sundance Kid, and Wyatt Earp.
A 1906 newspaper headline calling the district Fort Worth’s den of sin and refuge of criminals was representative of periodic efforts to clean up the district. These efforts proved unsuccessful until Army officials at Camp Bowie, established here during World War I, helped local officials shut the district down. By 1919, Fort Worth’s “Third Ward” was disavowed as a den of iniquity due to the law enforcement efforts of Jim Courtright and the Protestant orations of John Franklyn Norris.
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Hotter Than Hell
Well, yesterday was another marathon in the books. No PR for me and no Boston Qualifying - but I suspected and expected that. Temps were hot (not Badwater hot but … MORE
Well, yesterday was another marathon in the books. No PR for me and no Boston Qualifying – but I suspected and expected that.
Temps were hot (not Badwater hot but the bit of humidity tossed in tried to contribute to the pain). At least by the race start it had dropped a few degrees to near 100 F. The path was pretty nice along a river, mostly rolling, but little shade.
I said I wasn’t going to race it – but my mouth and my brain (what’s left of it) don’t always agree. So I went out trying for a sub four hour marathon. But, by the half marathon I was so drenched in sweat – I honestly don’t recall any race, other than a swimming one, where I was that soaked. So the second half marathon was just a death march to get that coveted t-shirt (because I don’t have drawers and boxes….and a quilt, full of them). I also used my new Hoka Mach 5 and I’m not sure if the heat made my feet swell but by mile 14 the shoelaces were killing me. I had to stop and loosen the laces three times during the run. Maybe I should have stayed with Cliftons.
I did win my age group….thankfully I was the only guy in it 🙂
Night Run and HOT
I decided to challenge myself and run a night run. This 25K was a 5K out and back that we ran 5 times! Ugh! Only water is provided on the … MORE
I decided to challenge myself and run a night run. This 25K was a 5K out and back that we ran 5 times! Ugh! Only water is provided on the course, but you can set up your own staging area and have snacks, drinks, etcetera. I have run this race twice and both times it was hot, and humid, even at 10PM. It’s fun to hang out afterwards. It’s an easy course, but gets very boring, after the 2nd out and back.
Nice Run, Despite the Flooding
This was a 50k race run by doing (10) 5K laps. orginally this was going to be a trail run on crushed gravel, but Mother Nature decided to flood the … MORE
This was a 50k race run by doing (10) 5K laps. orginally this was going to be a trail run on crushed gravel, but Mother Nature decided to flood the area with rain just a few hours before the start. Organizers did a great job of changing the course to a 5K concrete bicycle trail loop. Mileage was spot on. Support was great.