Texas > El Paso Marathon & Half Marathon El Paso, TX addthis
Date
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Event
Details
More than 1,000 runners crossed the finish line at the second
annual running of the El Paso Marathon & Half Marathon in 2008,
with
more than 800 of those runners participating in the half-marathon that
takes the field on an out-and-back loop course from the start at the
Lynx Exhibits on San Antonio Street and runs through the city and back.
The race's signature feature and claim to fame, no doubt, is its scenic
last few miles, which run along the Rio Grande and overlook the Mexican
border.
Nicknamed "the Sun City" and "Land of the Sun," El Paso is most
definitely a sunny city -- it gets more than 300 days of sunshine each
year -- so participants should arrive prepared for the
race with shades and sunscreen. The course for both the half and the
full marathon start downtown, at the corner of San Antonio Avenue and
El Paso Street, near the El Paso Convention Center, and start by taking
runners on a mostly northwest route along Mills Avenue, Campbell Street
and Missouri Avenue, before turning onto Santa Fe and Yandell Drive.
After the stretch along Yandell, runners turn right onto Hawthorne and
follow it to the edge of the University of Texas-El Paso campus,
running the streets that skirt around the edge of the campus and within
shouting distance of Sun Bowl Stadium. The course continues up
northward into the neighborhood areas outside the university, along
Stanton Street and Brentwood Avenue before turning onto Executive
Center Boulevard, which takes participants west across the Upper Valley
area toward Paisano Drive.
Both the half- and full-marathoners follow Paisano northwest for more
than a mile, and turn onto Doniphan Drive, where those running the full
split off from those in the half, who make a quick loop at the
intersection of Doniphan and Race Track Drive and then head back along
the street they've just run toward Paisano Drive. This begins the last
few miles of the race, the scenic stretch that overlooks
Mexico and the Rio Grande, as well as the Chihuahuan Desert that
surrounds the city. Off in the distance over on the Mexican side of the
border, runners can see Sierra de Cristo Rey, where the famous statue
of Christ built by the artist Urbici Soler sits atop its 4,700-ft.
summit.
The terrain for the race is entirely paved surfaces, as it is run on
city streets, with a combination of some challenging hills in the
race's first few miles and even, flat terrain, especially in the second
half. The elevation in El Paso is about 3,800 feet above sea level, and
both races start at 7:00 AM -- and feature a six-hour time limit.
Race
Weather & Climate
Nestled right across the border with Mexico and the nearby city of
Ciudad Juarez, El Paso typically sees plenty of sun and mild to
moderately warm (and occasionally cool) weather conditions in the late
winter/early spring, with little to no rainfall. In March, average
monthly temperatures range between 70°F and 44°F, while
rainfall amounts average just over a quarter of an inch for the month
-- the year's driest on average for El Paso.
Fees
$40 if registered by February 17, 2009
$50 after Feb. 17
Registration
To reserve your spot in the spring 2009 running of
the El Paso Marathon & Half Marathon, register online at Active.com.
