HOUSTON MARATHON SELLS OUT IN RECORD TIME
By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

Organizers of next January's Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half-Marathon reported today that their event had sold out in record time.  Registration was opened just last Friday, but within 24 hours the half-marathon had already reached capacity.  The marathon filled up just a few hours later, as the event hit its combined cap of 22,000 runners.

"We knew we would establish a new standard with the fastest sellout in race history, but the pace at which registration was completed exceeded even our most optimistic projection," commented race director Brant Kotch through a media release.  "The Houston Marathon Committee and our dedicated team of more than 5,000 volunteers look forward to staging a great event for our largest field ever."

Sensitive to the nation's tough economy, Steve Karpas, the event's managing director, pointed out that the race had not increased its entry fees from the prior year.  "We had concerns the difficult economy might impact our numbers and offered our participants a no fee increase year to do our part in these tough times," Karpas explained.  "Obviously, the phenomenal response and 60-hour sell out proved us wrong."

The 2010 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon are scheduled for Sunday, January 17.  Like last year, the event will be hosting the USA men's and women's half-marathon championships.

ENDS