The 2024 Cowtown Half Marathon checked off state number 23 for me! The half was a great race, but I also loved cheering on my ultra-crazy friends running the ultra marathon. (Same girls that ran the Pumpkinman Half in Maine last year.) Overall, the race was a good size, well organized and gave good swag. The cons were the weather (uncontrollable), the hill we had to climb for the last .5 mile, and a few slow water stops.

The expo was in the same spot as the start/finish line, which was about a mile from our hotel. It was a good size with lots of vendors and freebies. Included in my favorites was the cow bell and hand clapper from the Oklahoma Memorial Marathon, which came in handy on Sunday. Another favorite was the sweat towels, which I soaked and then gave to my friends around mile 24 on Sunday. Lastly, and maybe my favorite, was the photo booth. Yeehaw!

We thought for sure the giant cowbell was to ring for a PR after the race. But none of us saw it at the finish line, because a few of us got PRs. 🙁

I dressed basically the opposite of the Charleston Half, which was only a month prior. I packed 2 huma gels, but ended up only eating one and giving the other one to Adrienne. I made in through with some “candy soup” from some random lady on the course (and a shot of fireball at mile 12.5). I also had my handheld water bottle.

2024 Cowtown Half Marathon Recap

Race start was chilly, but we knew the temps were going to heat up. I used an old mylar wrap to stay warm at the start line. I think there were 8 corrals and we all started in 6. They were organized well and mostly orderly. The race officially started at 7 AM, but according to my Garmin we started at 7:27 AM.

Another thing I loved was that the half, full and ultra were all together for the first ~10 miles. Their maps were very clear and they had printed ones available at the expo and our hotel. The printed ones came with a pace calculator too. They also had a live tracker that I used to track my friends.

Of course we took a quick stop at the stockyards for a picture. It was cool to run through that area, but I’m glad it was closer to the beginning because those cobblestones were not nice to our knees and ankles.

Leading up to the big climb at mile 9 there was an awesome DJ blasting [clean] rap that gave us all a little boost. It wasn’t enough to get us up that big hill but much appreciated. There were several water/gatorade stops but a few were not well prepared. As the race continued and the crowds stretched out, they seemed to be able to keep up.

After saying goodbye and good luck to my friends, I concentrated on finishing my race. I felt ok and ready to meet my goal of coming in under 2:30. Then around mile 11 (see map above) we had a short little out-and-back that went down-up-turn-down-up under an overpass. Then I swear everything after crossing the river was uphill. I took the photo above because I liked the Fort Worth mural on the right, but hated the hill ahead. My watch had me finishing with a 2:30:25. Stupid hill at the end.

Even with my slow time, the finish line area was pretty crowded. There were several full marathoners starting to finish and I saw a few ultras as well. A fellow runner from my Charleston running group was there too! So, we met up to congratulate each other and send a photo to the rest of our pace group to prove we had good reason to skip the training run that weekend. 🙂

The cold chocolate milk at the finish line was SO good! The food was so-so, but I did get one of the green jackets. Several people had them at the start line and we were all curious. I wish I would have grabbed 3 more because by the time my friends finished, they were all gone. We all received two shirts, one Cowtown shirt and then a race-specific shirt. The half was purple t-shirt and the ultra was an orange long sleeve shirt.

After showers, stretching and resting we went to Cattleman’s for a real Texas steak dinner. We all thought our steak was WAY too salty but we ate it anyway. Then I ordered possibly the biggest piece of carrot cake ever. The old saying, -everything is bigger in Texas- held true.

Full or Half Marathon in Every State

Texas was fun, because it checked off a huge state on the map! Still several left, but I’m not registered for any other halves this year! Yet…

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