Cowtown Marathon bringing in elite runners

Elizabeth Northern

For the fourth year, The Cowtown Elite program will bring runners from around the world to Fort Worth to compete for prize money at the Marathon, Half Marathon, 50K (Ultra Marathon) and, new for 2017, the 10K distance, according to race officials.

With $20,000 in guaranteed prize money, fast races are expected in each of these races to be held on Saturday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, Feb. 26. Among the athletes vying for a share of the $20,000 will be runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Canada and the U.S.

Among the featured runners in the men’s half, full and ultra-marathon races are Americans Tyler McCandless and Andrew Cook; Canadian Calum Neff; Ethiopian Getachew Girma Abayu; and Kenyans Stanley Boen, Peter Kemboi, Silas Too, Julius Koskei and Peter Kiprop Chebii.

Among the featured runners in the women’s half, full and ultra-marathon races are Americans Caitlin Keen, Tanja Ivandic, Anne Portlock and Lauren Versweyveld; Canadian Amy Puzey; Ethiopian Bose Gameda Assefa; and Kenyan Joan Chepkorir Aiyabei.

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Elizabeth Eder Northern, winner of every Cowtown race distance, including last year’s Ultra, will be a pacer in the marathon this year for the 3:30 finish time. She will also be running the 10K on Saturday as part of The Cowtown Challenge.

“We are looking forward to an exciting weekend of races. We know the runners are looking forward to the competition and the spectators will enjoy watching the quality of runners racing Saturday in the 10K and Sunday in the half, full and ultra-marathon distances,” said Heidi Swartz, executive director of The Cowtown.

The 39th annual Cowtown is scheduled for Friday, Feb, 24 through Sunday, Feb. 26 at Will Rogers Memorial Center. The Cowtown races are presented by the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Medical City Healthcare, MillerCoors, Star Telegram, NBC 5, The Ranch, Bruce Lowrie Chevrolet and Cook Children’s Health Care System.

http://cowtownmarathon.org/

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For more on Fort Worth runner Elizabeth Northern:

www.fortworthbusiness.com/news/paul_harral/for-the-long-haul/article_8e49065e-f212-11e5-91b8-df4b4bc017c1.html