Running News Daily

2021 Chevron Houston Marathon to kick off virtually this week

Daniel Dannug and his close-knit running group were in the middle of a training run when they heard it:

“Six feet, gentlemen. Six feet!” a stranger yelled as he drove by a Northeast Houston running trail.

Dannug acknowledged that his running crew goes against some COVID-19 safety guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: No one lives in the same household and some have higher exposure rates because they don’t work from home.

But they need each other to accomplish their goal of running a marathon, he said.

“We’re all first-time marathoners, and that’s what motivated us to continue pushing forward; this is all brand-new territory for us,” Dannug, 39, said. “It’s me and four other people every Saturday going out to train. We had this mantra: Keep pushing. It’s a strong mindset to try to achieve, and we’re seeing it through.”

Dannug co-founded Champions Running Association, a run club serving Houston’s northeast suburbs with 180 members, in 2017. Back in April, Dannug ran his first virtual race feeling what he called a “virtual high.” That quickly turned to virtual fatigue, and he lost all motivation to run solo by the summer.

“I took a break after that. I knew I wanted to save any motivation for doing a virtual race for the Chevron (Houston Marathon),” he said. “It would have been so much easier to fold, but that’s not how I’m wired and I’m hyped for other people.”

On Jan. 17, Dannug and 21 others from Champions Running Association will run together for the 49th annual Chevron Houston Marathon, which will be held virtually for the first time.

The event’s three races — a 5K, half-marathon and marathon — can be accomplished any day, time or location between Jan. 8 and Jan. 17. The only rule is once a race is started, it must be finished in the same go but there is no six-hour limit, like in typical years.

More than 9,300 runners signed up, said Muffy King, marathon marketing director. Registration is closed since virtual capacity was met, she said, adding that orders for T-shirts, finisher medals, drinking mugs and swag had to be ordered far in advance.

About 200 runners have registered to run all three events, which is impossible in a normal year, King said. Participants can run the 5K one day, the half-marathon another day and a marathon on a third day.