The Half de Paris TX race is a fun race. I drove up from Houston on a Friday night and picked up my packet that night, it was quick and easy... only 1 person was in front of me. Race day had a good vibe with music and a fun announcer. Course ran through the town of Paris, which was hillier than I expected. 5ish miles on a paved trail. We passed the Eiffel Tower, the Jr. College, a train station. It seemed that we spent a lot of time in the "hood". Other than the hill up to the finish it was awesome.

I opted to pick my packet up race day morning... thankfully it was quick and easy. Starting line area was well marked and had plenty of port-a-cans.

Course... we ran through the west end of Galveston to the seawall, then turned around and came back. The seawall portion was great... unfortunately it was less than half the course. The west side of Galveston isn't that nice for scenery.

The aid stations were ok... didn't seem to be very well manned. I did manage to see the "holiday candy" station but it was too late... (there were cups on a table with no fanfare).

The finish line area was a little confusing, running through Moody Gardens... it would have been better to plan the race around dusk so that you could see all the decorations lit up.

This was my first trail race... and I have to say that I couldn't have picked a better race to get started on the "crack" that is trail racing. This race is put on by racing company Trail Racing Over Texas and they really know what they are doing. I ran the 25k and it was a blast. Race day morning started with a course description by Rob, the race director, and he went over what to do if you encountered an alligator. The we were off... unlike road races, this is very low key. Out on the course it was beautiful... surrounded by natures beauty. There were several aide stations stocked with anything you could imagine... water, sports drink, soda, chips, pickles, fruit, candy - a real smorgasboard. Along the course all the runners were friendly and encouraging. At the finish, I got a hi-5 and a hug from Rob. It was an awesome race... I'm considering doing my first Ultra here next year!

The Galveston Half Marathon is a smallish race in a small beach town. I ran the half marathon which is 1 loop of the full marathon course (the marathon course is 2 loops). The course is flat (except for 1 minor hill) and runs along the beach area (no on sand) and the seawall. There was no bag drop, as you parked very close to the race start. There were REAL bathrooms (and port-a-cans too) at the start/finish. For SWAG we received a long sleeved tech shirt and a tech hat. The aide stations were well stocked and the volunteers enthusiastic. On this race (as with most races in Galveston), there is minimal crowd support/spectators. Post race party was fun, with the normal post race goodies - plus pizza and beer.

The Houston Marathon is an amazing race. It is very well organized, and went off without a hitch. At the start, both marathoners and half marathoners start together and run the first 8 miles together... that part of the race is pretty crowded. After mile 8 it thins out. The course if mostly flat there are some hills for the over/underpasses. The aid stations and volunteers are phenomenal. There is a ton of crowd support by very enthusiastic spectators.