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
- Four new course records were set in an Ethiopian sweep at the 2012 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon.
- For the sixth consecutive year, the Chevron Houston Marathon has produced a new marathon course and state record.
- A record 250,000 participants, spectators and fans, and volunteers took part in the anniversary race weekend of events.
- 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.
- A record number of marathon participants and finishers (7,611) competed in the 40th anniversary Chevron Houston Marathon.
- 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.
- Since its inception in 1995, the Run for a Reason charity program has raised nearly $15 million for nonprofit organizations.
- A record 307 teams competed in the ABB Team Challenge, nearly doubling the number of team participants in 2011.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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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