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The 2023 Houston Marathon will be held on Sunday, January 15. There will be a half and full marathon as part of the event. This marathon has been held every year since 1972, except for 2021, when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was able to return in 2022. This marathon is a Boston Marathon qualifier.
Start time
Both the full and half marathons will start at 7:01 a.m. CT on Sunday. Houston is in the central time zone, so that would be 8:01 ET. The wheelchair start time is just 11 minutes prior at 6:50 a.m. CT.
How to watch
There will be multiple live streams of the race. There is a live local broadcast on ABC-13 as well as a YouTube live stream. You can also catch the action on ESPN3 as well as in person.
Course map
The Houston marathon starting line will be near the intersection of Congress and Fannin, and there will be five different corrals competitors can line up in. The finish line is a few blocks away at the intersection of Lamar and Crawford, near the George R. Brown Convention Center. The time limit for the full marathon is six hours. You can track individual runners at this link.
You can view the full course below or review a full course map.
Weather via AccuWeather
The weather for Sunday looks pretty good for a race, albeit a little warmer than typical. The high for the day is 74, with a low of 64. There is only a 6% chance of rain. The weather description reads “warmer; breezy in the p.m.” The wind is expected to blow SSE at 12 mph and gust up to 29 mph throughout the day.
Prize money
First place for the men’s and women’s races each win $35,000. Second place claims $17,000. Third place claims $7,000. Fourth place claims $4,000. Fifth place claims $2,000. In the Masters’ division, first place claims $1,500, second place claims $1,000, and third place claims $500. If a runner breaks the course record, they will win $10,000.
First place for the half marathon is $10,000 and the rest of the top five earn $6,000, $4,000, $3,000, and $1,000, respectively. First place in the Masters’ division earns $1,000. A course record earns $7,500.
Who won the last race?
James Ngandu had the fastest time last year as he completed the marathon in 2:11:03. Abdi Abdo was right on his heels in 2:11:11, and Elisha Barno finished in third at 2:11:16.
The fastest female finisher was Keira D’Amato in 2:19:12. She won by nearly 10 minutes as Alice Wright came in second with a time of 2:20:08. Maggie Montoya finished at the same time and was awarded third place.