With a little over 17 weeks until the Houston Marathon, we view it as vital that you start training now to get ready to race on January 14th, 2024.
One of the ways we mention how to get prepared for a marathon is to just find a place where you enjoy running! (You can read about everything else we recommend here: https://vegvisircrossfit.com/start-training-for-the-houston-marathon-today/. This article is from 2021 for the 2022 Marathon. All of the advice remains true, just the dates will be slightly off
Well if you’re like most of us who go to Vegvisir CrossFit, you live in or near Downtown Houston. This means that there is a large amount of people who have already done research for you on how long the trails are, when the best time to go is, and other details that can help improve your run.
While our trails aren’t very…scenic, we do have very well maintained running networks that can span anywhere from 1 mile to almost 20 miles!
To get a list of trails along with reviews from local runners, we recommend checking out All Trails!
Some of the trails that we recommend based off of what our current marathon runners use as well as our coaches favorites are:
Marvin Taylor Exercise Trail or the Hermann Park Loop (2.0 Miles and 2.1 Miles respectively): These trails are located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center and are popular spots to get in solid running, with a view of Houston’s popular museum district locations such as the Hermann Park Golf Course, Houston Zoo, and the McGovern Centennial Gardens. Both trails use gravel for the majority of their surface so be prepared to dig some rocks out of your shoe when the run is over!
Rice University Running Trail (3.0 Miles): Another gravel trail located near the Texas Medical center is this beautiful tree covered path around the Ivy of the south. During this run you will make a lap around one of the world’s most prestigious universities and can make plans to have lunch with friends after at the nearby outdoor shopping mall, rice village.
Memorial Park Seymour Lieberman Exercise Trail (2.9 Miles): Located in one of Houston’s largest parks, the Lieberman trail is located in a tall forested area. This trail surrounds the PGA cause at Memorial Park and features many new nature developments that focus on bringing a nature back to the inner loop!
Buffalo Bayou Trail (15 Miles): Located along the Buffalo Bayou that leads into Downtown Houston, this 15 mile ring road trail provides one of the longest and quietest routes you can take in town. With much of the trail located below the level of the street in the bayou, you can enjoy long runs with plenty of nature. Not to mention if you have dogs, the Johnny Steele Dog Park is one of the best places to bring your dog to cool off and play with friends!
White Oak Bayou Greenway (16.5 Miles): Another bayou adjacent trail is this monster of trail that leads you from Downtown to the Heights! While this trail is less of a ring and more of a straight shot, you can enjoy much of the same comforts afforded by the Buffalo Bayou Trail network! We highly recommend this trail as you get closer to race day to really dial in those longer runs!
If you’re interested in finding a group to run with, we would love to partner ya with some of the other marathon minded athletes at the gym (:
Click the linkHERE to schedule a No Sweat Intro.
We can help you to make a training plan and we will help ya connect with some of the other long distance runners at Vegvisir!