HOUSTON – On Sunday, thousands of athletes laced up their shoes and hit the pavement for the Houston Half Marathon and 10K presented by the Houston Striders.
The event took place downtown at the Sam Houston Park at the corner of Lamar Street and Bagby Street.
The half marathon started at 7 a.m. and the 10K started just after it.
The event is presented by Houston Striders. Organizers focused on community wellness and charitable outreach. In the past year, the nonprofit has given away over $900,000 to Houston area organizations.
“It feel great! It’s great to be apart of an organization that gives back. Overall, the running community is awesome,” Kim Le said.
Organizers said over 7,500 people participated in the events.
Daniel Flemming and Juan Garcia were excited to take part.
“The training takes weeks and of course you have to be disciplined to make those runs. I run everyday or at least three times a week. This is part of my training for a marathon I’m running in January,” Flemming said.
Garcia said he was feeling amazing.
“I’ve been waiting for this day and doing workouts on Thursday and Saturdays just to be prepared for this day,” he said.
Katie Bustos is expecting and was happy to be running.
“So I finished a 10K, signed up for the half, but I’m pregnant so it feels really good. He’s five months, so it’s his first 10k,” she said.
As runners crossed the finish line, they all agreed that Mother Nature was too hot to handle.
“I feel very tired. It was exhausting. 73 degrees with humidity. It’s just crazy, but they had a lot of water. I love the support and made friends along the way so I’m blessed,” Terrance Baptiste said.
Lu Bouanga finished fourth in the half marathon and said he’s ready for his next race.
“Just coming out here competing with some of the best in Houston, it’s a confidence booster for January. It helps you get tough for the races to come, so I definitely enjoyed it,” he said.
There were several food trucks and live music for people after the event.
To read more about the race, click here.