Why were the last 10miles of the full marathon course altered?
Participation in the full marathon has grown tremendously in the past few years. In 2009, almost 900 marathoners finished the event. That is nearly three times as many as finished in 2007! The last half of the “old” marathon course was an out-and-back section on the Katy Trail. After last year’s event, the feedback we received was that the course had reached capacity. Trail congestion created by the two-way traffic made it difficult for marathoners to maintain a consistent pace. Also, over the years we have heard from many runners that the course is a bit “too flat” and that they would prefer some variance in terrain to break up the physical and mental monotony.