The short version: Oct. 10–11 is a big Texas race weekend. Saturday brings the Willie McCool Memorial Half-Marathon in Lubbock. Sunday brings the Sugar Land Half Marathon, Houston’s Space City 10 Miler and the second day of Bastrop’s Autumn Harvest trail weekend, which includes a marathon. Fees below are the race fee on RunSignup as of Oct. 5, before processing fees.
| Race | When | Where | Main distance and fee on Oct. 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Willie McCool Memorial Half | Sat., Oct. 10 | Silent Wings Museum, Lubbock | Half $75 · 10K $55 · 5K $45 |
| Sugar Land Half Marathon | Sun., Oct. 11, 7 a.m. | Smart Financial Centre, Sugar Land | Half $130 · 10K $65 · Mile $40 |
| Space City 10 Miler | Sun., Oct. 11, 7 a.m. | UH–Clear Lake, Houston | 10 Miler $70 · 5K $50 |
| Autumn Harvest Trail Weekend | Sat.–Sun., Oct. 10–11 | Lake Bastrop South Shore Park | Marathon $125.99 · Half $105.99 · 50K $149.99 |
Willie McCool Memorial Half-Marathon, Lubbock (Saturday)
This race is dedicated to Willie McCool, the pilot of Space Shuttle Columbia in January–February 2003 and a 1979 graduate of Lubbock’s Coronado High School who loved running, according to the organizer’s race description. It starts and finishes at the Silent Wings Museum, and the course map plays on the space theme: the half marathon runs through the Lubbock Business Park, past the Lubbock Country Club and back through the countryside west of the airport. The organizer’s own line about the terrain is that “the world according to Lubbock is, indeed, flat.”
The half marathon is $75, the 10K $55 and the 5K $45, with youth 5K and 10K options at $35. Those prices hold until registration closes on race morning (9 a.m. for the half and 10K, 10 a.m. for the 5K). The race is run by West Texas Endurance.
Sugar Land Half Marathon (Sunday)
The Houston Methodist Sugar Land Half starts and finishes at Smart Financial Centre. The organizer says the courses are true loops with almost all right turns, no old-style out-and-backs, and about 100 feet of elevation gain, which it markets as one of the flattest courses in Texas. The half starts at 7 a.m., the 10K at 7:30 a.m. and the mile and kids half at 10 a.m. Finishers get a distance-specific medal, and the half has a 16:00-per-mile pace minimum.
The catch is price and capacity. The race is capped at 2,500 registered participants, and the half marathon had climbed to its final tier of $130 as of Oct. 5 (up from $75 when registration opened in January). That tier runs through race morning at 7 a.m. if spots remain. There is also a $70 virtual half marathon for runners who cannot make Sunday. If a fast half on a flat course is the goal, compare it with the other half marathons in Texas before you pay the late-tier price.
Space City 10 Miler, Houston (Sunday)
A 10-miler is a rarity on the Texas calendar, which makes Space City worth a look if you are building toward a fall half or the Houston Marathon block. It starts at 7 a.m. at the University of Houston–Clear Lake campus on a certified one-loop course through the Clear Lake area. It is part of the HARRA Fall Series.
- Price: $70 for the 10 Miler and $50 for the 5K through the online tier that closes Oct. 8, then $75 and $55 at packet pickup and on race day, per the organizer. The two-person relay is $100.
- Cheaper option: the organizer is offering a “bare-bones” entry without a shirt or medal, $15 off the 10 Miler and $10 off the 5K.
- Awards: cash prizes of $500 to the first male and female 10 Miler finishers, with $300 for second and $100 for third. Course records are 48:26 (open men) and 55:11 (open women).
- Packet pickup: Friday, Oct. 9, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. at Fleet Feet on West Gray; Saturday, Oct. 10, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. at On the Run in Clear Lake; and 5:30–6:30 a.m. on race morning.
It is the Houston-area pick for runners who already have a stack of half marathons on the calendar. For the wider picture, see the Houston race series and Houston half marathon pages.
Autumn Harvest Trail Weekend, Bastrop
Trails by Moonlight’s weekend at Lake Bastrop South Shore Park (375 South Shore Rd.) packs eight distances into two days. Saturday is the ultra and distance day: the Big Bastrop Backyard Ultra starts at 7 a.m., the 50K, 20-miler and 10-miler at 8 a.m. and the 5-miler at 8:15 a.m. Sunday has the marathon and half marathon at 9 a.m. and the 10K and 5K at 9:15 a.m. The 50K has a 10-hour cutoff and the marathon a 9-hour cutoff, and parking is free for registered runners.
The Big Bastrop Backyard Ultra is a last-person-standing event on a 4.167-mile loop, with a new loop starting every hour. Entry is $195 for the runner division (tier closes Oct. 8) and $145 for the weighted “rucker” division. The race is a Bronze Ticket qualifier for The Last Texan Standing series, and it’s part of the Texas Backyard Ultra Series. Our Texas ultra season preview covers the rest of the schedule, and the ultramarathons in Texas hub lists every distance by tier. The shorter trail distances on Sunday suit anyone who wants a lake-and-pines morning without an overnight commitment; see more in trail races in Texas.
Also this weekend
Four of the six Day of the Dead Half Marathon stops run on Oct. 10–11 (Dallas, Galveston, Waco and Corpus Christi), and the October race calendar lists every other 5K, fun run and costume race. Two weeks later, the Oct. 25 races: the Lubbock Marathon and the UTHealth Houston Half both run on Oct. 25.
