Austin Marathon

The Austin Marathon is an annual marathon held in Austin, Texas. Freescale Semiconductor, spun off from Motorola's semiconductor products sector in 2006, founded the marathon in 1991 and served as title sponsor for fifteen years.^[1] The marathon was sponsored by AT&T in 2007 and 2008, but ran with no title sponsor in 2009.^[2]

Many runners train for the 42.195-kilometre (26.219 mi) marathon throughout the year. There are many events to attend before the race, such as the Health and Fitness Expo — mandatory for all runners to come to — where runners pick up their race packets. The Expo is held in the Palmer Events Center in Austin on the Friday and Saturday before the race, and typically involves over ninety vendors who set up tables, booths and stands. Many of these vendors sell food, drink and relaxation products. Motivational speakers talk to runners and their families to get them excited about the race. After the expo, many runners head to restaurants to fuel up for the marathon by eating high-carb foods — such as spaghetti, pasta and pizza.

On the morning of the race, a typical runner might get an early start by waking up around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. Some runners skip breakfast, while others eat a small high-carbohydrate meal, such as a banana or a muffin. The starting and finish lines are now in downtown Austin. The race starts on the The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge downtown and finishes on Congress Avenue near the Texas State Capitol building.

One of the special aspects of Austin's marathon is that the race has more water and food stands to hydrate and feed the runners, than are typical of marathons elsewhere. Befitting the city that prides itself on being "The Music Capital of the World," the Austin marathon includes performances by live bands and even a beer stop in the later stages of the race for marathoners who want to drown their pain or perhaps get a head start on celebrating.

Given the geography of downtown Austin, the marathon is relatively flat compared to many other marathons.

Along with the Dallas White Rock Marathon and the Houston Marathon, the Austin Marathon forms the final leg of the Marathons of Texas, a series of winter marathons held approximately one month apart from each other from December through February in Texas.^[3]

Men's winners

Women's winners

References

External links

• Austin Marathon
• Athlinks: 2006 Austin Marathon results
• Marathon Info
• That Other Paper story by a 2007 Austin Marathon runner
• www.26m2.com
• Austin Marathon - Run The Nation
• Austin Marathon gears up for big race (2009 race details)