The 40th anniversary Chevron Houston Marathon was an exciting, action-packed weekend – one that will go down in the record books making history in more ways than one. Below is our wrap-up of the milestone weekend, and the first of our new “13 fast facts” series – a monthly feature posted on the 13th of each month as we count down to race day, January 13, 2013!

Race Weekend Wrap-up

  1. Four new course records were set in an Ethiopian sweep at the 2012 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon.
  2. For the sixth consecutive year, the Chevron Houston Marathon has produced a new marathon course and state record.
  3. A record 250,000 participants, spectators and fans, and volunteers took part in the anniversary race weekend of events.
  4. Runners from six continents, 24 countries and 50 U.S. states traveled to Houston to compete in the Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon and El Paso Corporation 5K.
  5. A record number of marathon participants and finishers (7,611) competed in the 40th anniversary Chevron Houston Marathon.
  6. The 2012 Chevron Houston Marathon’s Run for a Reason charity program has raised more than $2.3 million for 57 charities, surpassing the previous record set in 2011.
  7. Since its inception in 1995, the Run for a Reason charity program has raised nearly $15 million for nonprofit organizations.
  8. A record 307 teams competed in the ABB Team Challenge, nearly doubling the number of team participants in 2011.
  9. For the first time in U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon history, a single city hosted both the men’s and women’s races on the same day on the same course.
  10. The City of Houston was highlighted for two hours on national television with coverage of the historic U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on NBC Sports.
  11. For the first time in United States history, the Houston Marathon Committee pursued a green certification for two separate sporting events in a single weekend – U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and Chevron Houston Marathon.
  12. The Houston Marathon Committee collected 21.55 tons of waste during race weekend and diverted an impressive 79% of collected waste for the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and 83% for the Chevron Houston Marathon.
  13. More than 120 media outlets from around the world traveled to Houston to cover the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and 40th anniversary Chevron Houston Marathon.

More fast facts:

U.S. Men’s Olympic Trials Marathon Fast Facts
U.S. Women’s Olympic Trials Marathon Fast Facts

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