'Largest single-day sporting event in Houston' welcomes in-person event in 2022

The Chevron Houston Marathon, one of the city’s biggest yearly events attracting thousands of people, will be back on track for the 2022 event after the closure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event will be held over the weekend of Jan. 14-16 of 2022.

This year’s 2021 event was held virtually because of the pandemic.

The 2022 event will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the race first held in 1972, the Marathon Committee website said. The marathon organization has a board of directors, 12 staff members and 7,500 volunteers.    

“From the beginning, the Houston Marathon has meant so much to everyone involved with the event, from participants, volunteers and spectators to event partners and city stakeholders,” Marketing Director Muffy King told the Houston Daily. “Now more than 300,000 individuals make Chevron Houston Marathon Race Day the largest single-day sporting event in Houston each year.”

King said the marathon has grown over the years but still retains its family-friendly feel.

“The local community rolls out the red carpet to provide each runner with Texas-sized hospitality and encouragement as they traverse the city,” she said. “Friends, family and neighbors of Houston line the streets to show support for runners along nearly every stretch of the 26.2-mile route. As the city support has grown, so has the participant base, drawing elite and every-day runners from across the globe to test themselves on the flat and fast streets of Houston.”

King said the pace of vaccinations and recovery from the pandemic makes an in-person event possible and all safety precautions will be taken to protect attendees.

“We are continuing to prepare for our events with the understanding that the safety and well-being of our runners, volunteers and spectators is our top priority,” she said. “There are many external factors being considered. We are working to ensure our planning accounts for all measures necessary to hold a safe event. These efforts include working with city and state officials to align our preparations with current guidelines and any foreseeable future framework that may be in place at the time of our event.”

King added that precautions deemed necessary will be communicated to runners in advance.

Runners can include anyone over the age of 12 and a half marathon for children over the age of eight.

A report in Click 2 Houston provides a registration form online at chevronhoustonmarathon.com.