13 Texas Half Marathons You'll Love Running
13 Texas Half Marathons You'll Love Running
From Austin to Dallas to San Antonio, and from Galveston and the Gulf coast to the Texas Hill Country
River Road Run Half Marathon
New Braunfels, Texas | Saturday, January 4, 2025
Follow a winding route along the Guadalupe River here in the south Texas Hill Country at this race, which takes runners on an out-and-back route along the river for the entire 13.1 miles. Filled with rolling hills throughout — and really the only hills around the first couple and last couple miles of this out-and-back route — the race features plenty of views of the river waters flowing over the rocks to the trees and wooded areas that give the Hill Country its signature natural beauty.
Austin International Half
Austin, Texas | Sunday, January 19, 2025
You’ll feel the welcome as you run the streets of Texas’ capital city at this race, an overall downhill run that offers up plenty of what makes Austin so unique — a mix of funky urban neighborhoods, downtown and the University of Texas, whose main tower in the center of campus looks out over the entire city. You’ll start a few miles north of downtown and then head south from there, running through campus on your way toward the finish line near the majestic red granite Texas Capitol Building.
Austin Marathon + Half Marathon
Austin, Texas | Sunday, February 16, 2025
You’ll get the chance to run with 20,000 of your closest friends at this race through green, tree-lined city parks, across bridges over the Colorado River, and through the urban heart of this city, where the South meets the West. The half marathon route climbs roughly 250 feet between the start and the 4th mile marker, but you’ll have 4 hours to complete your 13.1 miles, which will unfold past sights like the Texas State Capitol building and the campus of the University of Texas.
The Border to Badlands Ultra
Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas | March 2025
The second in a series of eight running events throughout the year known as the Texas Trail Running Eco Series — which take runners to far-flung places around the state like the hills of Palo Pinto Mountains State Park and the beaches of Mustang Island — this race unfolds along a combination of single-track trails and backcountry jeep roads deep in the Chihuahuan Desert. You’ll run just a few miles from the U.S. border with Mexico and get to take in some truly spectacular views of Seminole Canyon and the waters of the Rio Grande during the race — and if you’re up for it, the race also hosts a full marathon and even a 50-miler.
Grasslands Trail Run
Fort Worth, Texas | Saturday, March 15, 2025
With more than 20,000 acres of rural grasslands in the Texas backcountry, the Caddo and Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands are where you’ll run this early springtime race, designed for those ready for real trail running conditions — which means you’ll need to be ready to run across streams and through muddy bogs, as well as sand and underbrush. The terrain for the race consists of a mix of gravel, single-track trails and dirt trails along a number of rolling hills, as well as a mixture of pine and oak grove forests and wide-open prairie grasslands, from which the park takes its name. And the animals you may encounter along the way include horses and cows, who frequently share the trails with you as you run.
Seabrook Lucky Trail Half Marathons
Seabrook, Texas | Saturday, March 15 - Sunday, March 16, 2025
A run along the nature trails of this coastal Texas city just outside Houston, with gorgeous views of Galveston Bay as well as the surrounding wetlands, salt marshes and coastal forest, all along crushed gravel surfaces. As you run through a series of local parks like the Seabrook Wildlife Refuge and Pine Gully Park right on the shoreline, you’ll be able to look out at fishing piers on the bay and creeks on the trails. You can also choose to run your half on either Saturday or Sunday — or both.
Brazos Bend 50
Needville, Texas | Saturday, April 6, 2024
It’s “the fastest trail in Texas trail running,” organizers say, thanks to a course that’s “99.9% flat” along the 37 miles of trails inside Brazos Bend State Park, a nearly 5,000-acre natural area that lies about an hour’s drive from nearby Houston. “You’ll be running on flat surfaces that move from hard crushed rock, soft hiking trails under tree canopy, and easy horse trails,” they add, and expect to see wildlife out on the trail — including the occasional alligator! “The gators are a part of our race, there has never been an incident in the park. Enjoy them on your run, from a distance, and you may get some unique race photos!”
Dallas Running Club’s The Half
Dallas, Texas | Sunday, November 3, 2024
One of the oldest and most popular half marathon events anywhere in the country, the race locals once called simply “The Half” marks its annual running this fall with a route that unfolds around the entire circumference of 1,015-acre White Rock Lake, one of the crown jewels of Dallas’s urban parks system. Thanks to its location next to the lake, most of the race is very flat — there’s a climb of only about 100 feet between the start and the half-way point of the course, and its four-hour time limit means it’s open to walkers as well as runners. (There’s also a 5K that starts in Norbuck Park at the northern end of the lake.)
The Barrier Island Ultra
Mustang Island, Texas | Saturday, November 9, 2024
Run where wild horses roamed for hundreds of years along this barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast. Starting from the Beach Lodge on Mustang, you’ll run this out-and-back half entirely along the beach, feeling the salty sea air as the wind whips through your hair. One hundred percent of the race is on the beach, and there’s almost no elevation gain or loss — this thing is pancake-flat the entire way. If you’re feeling you’re not up for 13.1, the race also offers a 5K and 10K; if you’re up for more, there’s a full marathon, 50K and even a 50-miler.
La Porte By the Bay Half Marathon
La Porte, Texas | Sunday, November 17, 2024
It’s the “highest off-the-ground half marathon in Texas,” its organizers say, and by that they mean the race route takes runners over the Fred Hartman Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge that lies more than 170 feet above the water of Texas’s Galveston Bay and is the largest structure of its kind in the state. Its steel towers reach more than 400 feet into the sky above you as you run, and you’ll run through them as you cross over the bridge twice on this out-and-back run from La Porte over to Baytown and back.
Dinosaur Valley Endurance Run
Glen Rose, Texas | Saturday, Nov. 23 - Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024
A beautiful trail run through Texas’s Dinosaur Valley State Park, which lies roughly an hour’s drive southwest of Fort Worth, with a wide range of distances — everything from the 5K, 25K and 50K distance all the way up to a 100K and even a 100-miler, which will take you both days (no doubt!). You’ll run through lots of rocky, hilly terrain filled with soft dirt and tree roots, where some of the first dinosaur footprints to be discovered in North America were found, here along the edge of an ancient ocean.
Mosaic Trail Run
Liberty Hill, Texas | Saturday, December 7, 2024
Named for the mosaic of people its organizers are encouraging to come out and run — “we're all different sizes, shapes, colors, styles, ages... but when we join together for a common goal, we create a beautiful picture together” — this race on the outskirts of Austin unfolds along the trails at Indian Mound Ranch. You’ll run through open pastures and along bluffs overlooking the San Gabriel River, with plenty of twisty single-track trails through the ranch property. There will be distances for just about every runner — 1-mile, 5-mile, 10K, 15K, half marathon, full marathon and 50K.
Spicewood Vineyards Half Marathon
Spicewood, Texas | Saturday, December 14, 2024
Filled with scenic farmland, vineyards and rural country roads, this race offers up challenging hills and panoramic views of the farmland here in this corner of the Texas Hill Country, just a short drive from nearby Austin. From the starting line at Spicewood Vineyards — a winery known for its Chardonnay and Sauvingnon Blanc — the race unfolds along the scenic farm roads of Burnet County and features “two monster hills” around the middle of the race.
