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About 27,000 runners have signed up for the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco Half-Marathon. Race Director Brant Kotch says they'll have lots of fans to cheer them on.
"We do bill our event as Houston's largest single-day sporting event because we regularly see somewhere in excess of 200,000 spectators on the course," says Kotch.
The marathon is 26 miles long and it mostly goes through the western part of the city. Streets like Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive will be affected, also areas around Rice University and the Galleria. Kotch says police will close streets on a parade route schedule.
"What that means is we never have the entire course closed during the entirely of the event,” explains Kotch. “Rather it closes in the area where there are runners present."
The marathon will start around 6:45 Sunday morning at Congress and Main downtown, and Kotch expects things to wrap up by about 1:30 p.m. at the finish line at Lamar and Crawford.
The weekend also includes a 5K race downtown on Saturday morning, as well as events at the George R. Brown Convention Center and Discovery Green.
