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Texas > Lake Benbrook Half Marathon & 5K
Benbrook, TX
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Date
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Event
Details
The serene waters of the Lake Benbrook reservoir, surrounded by rolling
hills and prairie meadows just outside Fort Worth, are the setting for
the Lake Benbrook Half Marathon & 5K, which marked its 20th
annual running this year and saw nearly 400 runners cross the finish
line in both races combined. An out-and-back race with hills scattered
throughout virtually the entire course, the event starts and finishes
in Dutch Branch Park near the top of the lake, and takes runners on a
course that offers ample views of the lake from several different
vantage points.
Designed as a kind of practice/tuneup run for the Fort Worth Cowtown
Marathon, which takes place just a month later, the Lake Benbrook race
began life in the 1980s as a 20K race event, then called the Fort Worth
Runners Club's Fort Worth Fall Classic 20K. The club became inactive
for a few years, however, and the race wasn't held again until 1990,
when it was resurrected as a half-marathon organizers then named the
"Better Half," to distinguish it from Dallas's "The Half" 13.1-mile
race. Its name was changed again to the Lake Benbrook Half in 1993 when
it was moved to the lake, and the rest is history.
Thanks both to its terrain and the time of year the race is held, the
conditions and the course can make for a challenging run -- runners
must navigate both the hills of the park areas surrounding Lake
Benbrook as well as the event's often cold, windy and sometimes rainy
conditions. Participants run on paved surfaces throughout the reservoir
area's parks, including Dutch Branch, Holiday Park and Mustang Park.
The starting time for runners in both the half marathon and the 5K race
is 8:30 AM, and the starting location is the baseball facility just
south of the YMCA, inside Dutch Branch Park. Participants can get to
the park via either Interstate 20 or I-30 from nearby Fort Worth, by
taking
the exit for Highway 183 South and following it to Winscott Road.
Race
Weather & Climate
Mild to moderately cool and sometimes cold weather conditions are the
norm in the Lake Benbrook area in the wintertime, with relatively
little rainfall or other precipitation. In January, average area
temperatures range between 55°F and 31°F, while
rainfall amounts average around 1.7 inches for the month -- the driest
month of the year, on average.
Fees
$25 if registered by January 19, 2008
$30 after Jan. 19 through race day
Registration
Online registration is not yet available for the 2009 running of the
Lake Benbrook Half Marathon. Please check back later
in the
year for updated information on how to register.
Website
www.runtimeracingservices.com
Starting
Location Map
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Your Race Story
Ever run in Benbrook's annual Half Marathon or 5K? Share
your impressions and read fellow runners' stories and tips for the
event.
Discuss it in the HalfMarathons.Net
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