Fort Worth’s Cowtown Marathon has won top honors in the fourth annual March Lunacy tournament hosted by RaceRaves, beating out 63 other contenders.
With many running events having to cancel or postpone due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RaceRaves hosted its annual March Madness for races as a safe and entirely online way for runners to continue to show support for their favorite events, the Cowtown said in a news release.
We pause briefly here to recognize not only the creativity of the Cowtown itself but the writer of the press release who managed to work in phrases and words such as “hail to the beef,” “taking the bull by the horns,” “a cow-valry of enthusiastic supporters,” “udderly convincing” and “moo-mentum to steak its claim as one of the nation’s most bull-loved race weekends.”
Top U.S. road and trail races of all distances in four geographic regions were seeded based on their 2019 finisher numbers and RaceRaves reviews, with the exception of last year’s Final Four which each earned a No. 1 seed. Voting was conducted in six rounds over three weeks, with races that earned the most votes advancing to the next round.
The Cowtown won in the Final Four, beating out two World Marathon Majors – the Chicago Marathon and Boston Marathon.
The Cowtown’s current RaceRaves rating is 4.7/5.0 across nearly 800 reviews.
“On behalf of our team, we’re thrilled by this award and grateful to RaceRaves and to all our runners and supporters who voted us America’s Rave Race among so many outstanding events,” said Heidi Swartz, Executive Director of The Cowtown. “This accolade belongs to the entire Cowtown community, and we invite all runners to join us in Fort Worth to experience The Cowtown for themselves as we look forward to producing another world-class event in February 2021.”
Now in its 43rd year, The Cowtown celebrates the city’s rich cattle drive heritage with its scenic loop courses highlighted by the historic Fort Worth Stockyards, home to the world’s only year-round rodeo.
Finishers praise every aspect of race weekend from the “top-notch organization” to the “awesome swag,” with the event’s “addictive” appeal evident in its high number of repeat runners, the news release said.
Much like previous tournament champs the Flying Pig Marathon (2017, 2019) and Big Sur (2018), The Cowtown boasts broad appeal with runners across the U.S. as well as deep relationships and tremendous support within the local community.
Registration is now open for The Cowtown 2021, which takes place Feb. 26-28. Race weekend welcomes runners of all ages and skill levels with distances from 5K to 50K.
“We’re excited to congratulate The Cowtown on its well-deserved win in our fourth annual March Lunacy tournament,” said RaceRaves Co-founder Mike Sohaskey. “And we’re gratified to provide runners with a much-needed online diversion in these discomforting times. Though we may not be able to race together right now, the positive response to this year’s tournament shows we can still unite behind our shared passion for running while continuing to support our favorite races in a safe and healthy way.”
To see the final bracket: https://raceraves.com/march-madness-lunatic-style
The Cowtown Marathon, the largest multi-event road race in North Texas, has a $10.4 annual economic impact in Fort Worth, and hosts one of the largest youth races in the nation.