Marathons in Texas, 2026-27

17 of the 28 courses list a net drop of zero: the start and finish are at the same elevation on the certificate. They are Justice Run Fort Worth, United Supermarkets Lubbock Marathon, Running the Distance, Race Austin: Holiday Victory Lap, Brownsville Chief of Police Marathon, BMW Dallas Marathon, Irving Frost Marathon, CCTX Marathon, Texas Marathon, McAllen Marathon Scott Crane Run, Chevron Houston Marathon, USA Fit Marathon, Harlingen Marathon, Galveston Marathon, Hachie 50 Marathon, Ultra and Relay, Run the Alamo: Alamo 26.2 and Dalmatian Run Fest & Dizzy Dalmatian 101.

The biggest net drop on the list belongs to Marathon 2 Marathon (M2M): up to 361 ft (110 m). That is far below the 1,500 ft (457.2 m) at which the B.A.A. starts adding time to qualifying marks, so no Texas marathon on this list carries a net-downhill index.

Net drop compares only the start and the finish. It says nothing about the hills in between, so a zero-drop course can still climb.

9 of the 28 races are in Dallas-Fort Worth.

• Justice Run Fort Worth, Fort Worth: Oct 24, 2026; net drop 0 ft
• Fort Worth Marathon Festival, Fort Worth: Nov 8, 2026; net drop 10 ft
• Running the Distance, Dallas: Nov 26, 2026; net drop 0 ft
• BMW Dallas Marathon, Dallas: Dec 13, 2026 (sold out); net drop 0 ft
• Irving Frost Marathon, Irving: Dec 19, 2026; net drop 0 ft
• The Cowtown Marathon, Fort Worth: Feb 28, 2027; net drop 0 to 10 ft
• Hachie 50 Marathon, Ultra and Relay, Waxahachie: Mar 6, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Irving Marathon, Irving: Mar 21, 2027; net drop -12 to 0 ft
• Dalmatian Run Fest & Dizzy Dalmatian 101, Fort Worth: February (date TBA); net drop 0 ft

5 of the 28 races are in the Houston area.

• Texas Marathon, Kingwood: Jan 1, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Chevron Houston Marathon, Houston: Jan 17, 2027 (sold out); net drop 0 ft
• USA Fit Marathon, Sugar Land: Jan 31, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Galveston Marathon, Galveston: Feb 21, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Keating Auto Group Woodlands Marathon, The Woodlands: Feb 27, 2027; net drop 10 ft

4 of the 28 races are in the Rio Grande Valley.

• Brownsville Chief of Police Marathon, Brownsville: Dec 13, 2026; net drop 0 ft
• McAllen Marathon Scott Crane Run, McAllen: Jan 16, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• Harlingen Marathon, Harlingen: Feb 7, 2027; net drop 0 ft
• South Texas International Marathon, Donna: December (date TBA); net drop -52 to 24 ft

4 of the 28 races are in Austin and San Antonio.

• San Antonio Marathon, San Antonio: Dec 6, 2026; net drop -3 to 12 ft
• Race Austin: Holiday Victory Lap, Austin: Dec 13, 2026; net drop 0 ft
• Ascension Seton Austin Marathon, Austin: Feb 14, 2027; net drop -39 ft
• Run the Alamo: Alamo 26.2, San Antonio: Mar 7, 2027; net drop 0 ft

The USATF database also lists active marathon certificates for these events, but we could not confirm a current race on an official site, so they are not in the table. Names are as the certificates give them.

• Amarillo Marathon (Amarillo)
• Arlington Marathon 18 (Arlington)
• Run One More Marathon (Holland)
• Race For Hope Marathon (Lufkin)
• The Run for the Americas (San Marcos)
• South Padre Marathon (South Padre Island)

Some Texas marathons are missing because their certificates have lapsed. On October 11, 2026 the database held no active marathon certificate for these events; the newest one listed expired in the year shown: Big D Texas Marathon 2016, Dallas (2025); Seabrook Lucky Trails Marathon, Seabrook (2025); Miracle Match Marathon, Waco (2025); The Panhandle Marathon, Lubbock (2024). If you are chasing a qualifying time, ask the race whether the current course is certified.

USATF lists 110 active marathon course certificates in Texas, covering 38 events. We list the races we could confirm, sorted by date, with each course's net drop from start to finish. The 6 certified events we could not tie to a current race are named at the end.

We started from the USATF course certification database: every course in Texas certified at the marathon distance with an active status, searched on October 11, 2026. We grouped the 110 certificates into 38 events, then opened each race's official website for its name, city and next date. A race is listed only when its official site shows a marathon in its current or most recent edition. Dates come from the official sites; where a site has not published the next date, the table shows the month of the last edition.

Every race here has a USATF-certified course on file, and a certified course is what the B.A.A. requires for a qualifying time (Boston Marathon qualifying times). Where the race does not say which of its certified courses it runs, the table says Check. Certification codes and drops are facts from the USATF database (certifiedroadraces.com), which the USATF Road Running Technical Council maintains. Race directors can change courses, so confirm with the race before you build a season around one.