The runners of the Chevron Houston Marathon had but one goal in mind on Sunday morning: To make it to the end.
Shivering in the chilly January weather, as blustery winds whipped the air, runners gathered at the starting line in downtown Houston in anticipation of the journey to come.
Clad in baseball caps for a sun that was yet to rise and wearing their Sunday best of leggings and sweat-wicking T-shirts, runners propped themselves up against the white walls of the convention center to stretch in anticipation of the next few hours. Roughly 13,500 are running in the 48th annual Chevron Houston Marathon, a 26.2-mile course that weaves between skyscrapers, potholes and bayou greenery.
Alyssa Fields, 27, and her father John Sanchez, 45, kept up a brisk pace as they walked the short blocks from their parking spot to the George R. Brown convention center, where runners were expected to gather in the morning.
Fields was running her first marathon on Sunday — she raced the Aramco 5K in 2019, and made it her goal to get through the other 23.1 miles in 2020.
In recent weeks, she had trained for longer distances at Memorial Park with the expectation that the runner's medal would dangle proudly around her neck by Jan. 19.
“I’m not really worried, I’m going to finish,” she said.
Sanchez intended to wave her on from the starting line, before hopping back in his car to drive to a midway point and keep up with her.
“I’m really proud, she works hard and she’s very determined,” Sanchez said.
Equally as determined Sunday morning was Scott Brock, who drove down from Harding University in Searcy, Ark. to compete in his eighth Houston Half-Marathon.
Brock, 44, is completing his master’s degree in special education at the private school. Finishing the run, he said, was going to set his mood for the rest of the year.
“The half is important because it’s just to mark off my first goal in 2020,” he said.
The rest of the goals? Finish his degree, read 50 books, lose weight and take a trip to Israel. But the first hurdle was to jog through 13.1 miles.
The race started at 7:01 a.m. at the intersection of San Jacinto and Congress, looping through Midtown, Montrose, Rice Village, West University Place, the Galleria, Memorial and Fourth Ward to end at Lamar and Crawford.
Driving within the 610 Loop is ill-advised, thanks to a large number of road closures in and around the west half of the Loop.
gwendolyn.wu@chron.com
Twitter: @gwendolynawu
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