The course for the half starts just a stone’s throw away from the finish line, along Grady Street next to the Will Rogers Memorial Center, which lies near Fort Worth’s Trinity Park along the river. From there, runners head out into the park and then northward into the north side of the city, through the Linwood, Crestwood and Belmont Terrace neighborhoods.
With the exception of a few rolling hills, the course is largely fast and flat through the first half of the 13.1-mile route, which reaches its mid-way point at the city’s Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District, which commemorates this “cow town’s” connection to the livestock industry in Texas, and features a museum, vintage railroad and Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in addition to rodeos throughout the year, as well as dining and shopping year-round.
Once runners make it past the historic stockyards district, they begin heading southward along Niles City Boulevard and then along North Main Street, where they follow a long straightaway stretch for roughly three miles. After crossing the bridge over the river, runners pass the mile 9 marker near the Tarrant County Courthouse and hit what is probably the half marathon route’s steepest hill, halfway between the mile 9 and 10 markers.
The course then flattens out again for the next couple of miles as it brings runners south and west along Houston Street and Lancaster Avenue, respectively, on the way back toward the Will Rogers Center for the race finish.
