Overview Celebrating 49 years of running tradition, The Cowtown Marathon is North Texas’s largest multi-event race, welcoming participants from all 50 states and several countries to Fort Worth, Texas. Offering six race distances over two days, there is a race for every age and fitness level.  Saturday features the 10K, Adults 5K, and The Cowtown Kid’s 5K.  On Sunday, runners take on the Marathon, Half Marathon, and Ultra Marathon.  Runner’s can tackle a Saturday race and a Sunday race to ear the coveted Cowtown Challenge Medal. Ever race starts and finishes at Will Rogers Memorial Center, with scenic courses showcasing some of Fort Worth most iconic locations, including the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Trinity Trails, the Historic Stockyards, TCU and the Fort Worth Zoo. All proceeds from The Cowtown benefit The C.A.L.F. (Children’s Activities for Life and Fitness) Program.  C.A.L.F. provides fitness training, nutrition education, and wellness information to area school children.  The program also gives properly fitted new running shoes, socks and subsidized race entry to more than 5,000 children. On site The weekend is split in two: the 10K and both 5Ks run on Saturday, and the half, the full and the ultra on Sunday. Before that, the free Health and Fitness Expo fills the Amon G. Carter Exhibit Hall at Will Rogers for two days of packet pickup, 80 to 100 vendor booths and keynote speakers, and it is open to anyone. Out on the course, partners staff their own water stops and bands play from set sites along the route. Finishers collect custom puzzle-piece medals that the race designs to be collected year after year. Audience The field is mostly local. The race's 2025 report counted 63.6% of participants as locals and 36.4% as visitors, with an average trip of 87 miles, and more than 100 school teams and 165 corporate and open teams entered. The Cowtown says women aged 35 to 55 are the most socially engaged group in its community. Runners can also enter virtual distances that run from January to March, and 657 did in 2025. Track record The first Cowtown Marathon ran on February 17, 1979, with 182 finishers. The race later moved its start and finish from the Stockyards to Sundance Square, then to Will Rogers, and spread the events over three days. Its Kids 5K was named the top kids' running program in the nation by Running USA in 2011 and 2020, and C.A.L.F. had handed out more than 60,000 entry grants and pairs of running shoes by 2026. In 2025 alone that meant 5,400 students from 110 schools in 14 districts. The Cowtown puts its economic impact on Fort Worth at $10.4 million a year. Brand presence The presenting partner's name goes into the event name, and each distance can carry its own presenting partner, as the ultra does with Miller Lite. Top-tier partners get kiosks through the event, a tent on Cowtown Alley, a feature story in the runner guidebook, a logo on more than 32,000 race shirts and on the start and finish signage, and mentions from the grandstand announcer. Smaller groups can adopt a water stop and staff it, or put their name on a band site along the course. At the 2025 expo, Molson Coors sold out its stock twice. Charles Williams, president of Baylor Scott and White - Fort Worth, a race partner: "Our two organizations work seamlessly together to create proactive and healthy habits, from youth well into adulthood."