Cowtown Marathon 2026 Race Report – Back-of-the-Pack Edition

Brian Johnson (MM8807, HF7287, DA707) — Marathon #64, State #33 (New State: Texas) Cowtown Marathon, Fort Worth, Texas — March 1, 2026

I’ve had this race in my sights for a few years. I could never make the schedule work until this year.

As a back-of-the-pack runner, I really liked that the full marathon has a generous 7.5-hour cutoff.

I flew from Columbus, Ohio, to Dallas on Friday morning. I always try to build in an extra travel day upfront in case of airline issues.

I landed in Dallas late morning on Friday, did a little sightseeing, and headed to the expo in the afternoon.

I was surprised to see that there were two of me running the races this weekend.

The expo is pretty cool—it’s very big, and you could easily spend a lot of time and money there.

Sunday morning (race day) was a chance to see many members of the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics family.

The Cowtown Marathon gets you a very good 26-mile running tour of Fort Worth.

The elevation isn’t bad, except for one really big hill.

Prior to the race, they offer a worship service.

The Cowtown Sunday races had 8 waves and more than 20,000 people running on race morning.

This is the first wave starting the race.

Sitting in the corrals, you want to be patient. While the first corral started at 7:00 AM, my corral started at 7:45.

When we finally were just about to start.

Be prepared for a lot of confetti on the ground at the start.

there are all sorts of neat and interesting things to see along the race course.

People dressed as Elvis singing karaoke,

people dressed as cows,

inspirational signs,

and funny signs.

I liked looking at all the statues along the way.

Along the race course you will see bands.

But coming into the big hill at mile 9, you have to be prepared for the Wear Blue: Run to Remember mile. It honors fallen service members.

I even got a chance to do a few miles with Steve Boone from the 50 States Marathon Club.

For me the race was enjoyable until…

Somewhere right around mile 23—near the zoo—was when I ran into an issue.

There were a few of us all within a short distance of each other. All day we’d been following cones along the course.

Near mile 23, we hit a multi-purpose trail and ran under a bridge. On the other side, we weren’t sure where to go next. There was one sign, but it had no arrow.

Looking around, I spotted a cone on the walkway of the bridge. I immediately thought, ‘That’s the way to go.’ (It wasn’t.)

I went a short distance up to the entrance of the zoo (I shouldn’t have).

Meanwhile, the others figured out we needed to stay on the trail and keep going straight.

It took me about 10 minutes of wandering and looking around on the wrong side of the river before I spotted the mile marker back where I’d started—on the original side.

I was extremely annoyed. That wrong turn cost me 10 minutes when I was already feeling the miles.

I got back to the correct side of the river and continued the race, but I was in a foul mood at that point.

What didn’t help was a bit later, around mile 24.75, when a van approached me. The driver said the course had been closed and asked if I wanted a ride back. I politely declined.

I then ran the last mile-plus with no issues—the police were still blocking the roads, and I crossed the finish line.

I was able to finish the race without any further problems.

The medal this year was a cowboy hat-shaped cowbell, that actually rings!

Cowtown is definitely a race that can be back-of-the-pack friendly. I wasn’t happy with the lack of signs at mile 23. But if you’re looking for a larger Texas race, definitely put this one on your list.

Photo and post Credit Brian Johnson