New Registration System to be Implemented

HOUSTON (December 1, 2014) – The Houston Marathon Committee (HMC) announced on Monday that 2016 will feature a field-size increase to 27,000 runners for the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon. Each race will be capped at 13,500 available entries. The ABB 5K, which will take place on Saturday of race weekend, will be capped at 6,000 participants.

The 33,000 registrants will be the highest in the 44-year history of the Chevron Houston Marathon Race Weekend which will take place January 15-17, 2016. Both races have sold-out for 10 consecutive years.

In addition to the announced cap increase, the HMC announced that it will implement a new three-stage registration system for the 2016 marathon and half marathon that will replace the lottery system implemented in 2010.

“The new course and additional space in the GRB affords us the opportunity to increase the cap while not compromising the quality of the event. In turn, the cap increase provided us with an opportunity to implement a new three-stage open registration for our runners world-wide,” said Wade Morehead, HMC Executive Director. “We take pride in providing the best participant experience possible from registration to results, and this change allows the runners to register on a first-come, first-served basis again.”

The new three-stage 2016 registration system includes the following:
• Early Open Registration – Opens January 18, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. CT (Race Day) through January 22, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. or until 10,000 full and half combined entries are sold-out.

• Guaranteed Registration – Opens May 6-31, 2015 for guaranteed race entrants including time qualifiers, Legacy Runners, 5-9 year Houston Marathon or Half Marathon finishers, 2015 deferred registrants and members designated by HARRA.

• Open Registration – Opens on National Running Day, June 3, 2015 and will remain open until all 27,000 entries sell-out.

2016 Race Registration Dates

  • Early Open Registration             January 18 (3:00 p.m.) – 22, 2015
  • ABB 5K Registration                   January 18 (3:00 p.m.) – sell out
  • Guaranteed Registration           May 6 – May 31
  • ABB 5K Registration                   May 6 – sell out
  • HERO Registration                     May 6 – sell out
  • Open Registration                        June 3 – sell out
  • Fundraising for Registration     June 3 – sell out

2016 Chevron Houston Marathon Race Weekend of Events 
January 15
Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute EXPO

January 16
ABB 5K
We Are Houston RunFest
Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Sports Medicine Institute EXPO

January 17
We Are Houston RunFest
15th annual Aramco Houston Half Marathon
44th annual Chevron Houston Marathon

The cost of entry into the 2016 Chevron Houston Marathon is $135, while the cost for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon is $115.

For more information on 2016 Chevron Houston Marathon, Aramco Houston Half Marathon and ABB 5K, please visit www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com.

About the Houston Marathon Committee, Inc.
Established in 1972, the Houston Marathon Committee, Inc. (HMC), a Running USA Founding Member, annually organizes the nation’s premier winter marathon, half-marathon, and 5K. Over 250,000 participants, volunteers and spectators make Chevron Houston Marathon Race Day the largest single-day sporting event in Houston. Race Weekend generates over $50 million in economic impact for the region annually. In 2014, the Run For a Reason Charity Program raised a record $2.6 million and the HMC retained Gold Certification from the Council of Responsible Sport for industry-leading sustainability initiatives. Host to 14 U.S. Half Marathon Championships since 2005 and the 1992 women’s Olympic Trials Marathon, the HMC conducted the nationally-televised 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, which featured men and women competing on the same course simultaneously for the first time, vying for the chance to represent Team USA at the 2012 Olympic Games.