Courtesy: event press release

The 2007 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon are sold out.

The annual road races reached their combined field limit of 15,000 runners this week. A participation limit was established prior to the 2005 event as a way to ensure course safety and provide runners with an optimum race experience. For the 2007 race weekend, 7,050 runners have registered for the marathon, while 7,950 runners have signed up for the half marathon.

The field for the Chevron Houston Marathon is expected to be the largest in the 35-year history of the event.

"Reaching our field limit six weeks before the event shows that the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon have reached new heights," said Race Director Brant Kotch. "Demand is at an all-time high and runners from around the world are realizing what local runners have known for years - Houston is a great place to run."

The Chevron Houston Marathon's prominence in the sport was recently recognized by running magazine Marathon & Beyond, which scored the race second out of 54 marathons in its national rankings.

In addition to reaching its participation limit, the Chevron Houston Marathon has attracted a record number of sponsors for the 2007 race. Sponsorship packages sold out in October.

"Sponsors want to be part of a successful event, and we're fortunate to have tremendous support from Chevron and Aramco Services Company, in addition to our new partners, JetBlue Airways and Hummer," said Director of Marketing & Race Development Steven Karpas.

Including the fields for the Houston Press/Smart Financial Credit Union 5K and the Texas Children's Hospital Kids' Fun Run, more than 20,000 participants are expected to run in Houston during the weekend of Jan. 14, 2007.

The Chevron Houston Marathon, a Running USA founding member, is the nation's premier winter marathon, annually attracting participants from all 50 U.S. states and several foreign countries. In 2006, nearly 20,000 runners took part in four marathon weekend events (marathon, half marathon, 5K run and children's fun run). The Chevron Houston Marathon offers the only closed marathon course in Texas and is ranked among the top five in the nation by the Ultimate Guide to Marathons for fastest course, organization and crowd support. More than 5,000 volunteers work the race, which is Houston's largest single-day sporting event.

For more information, visit the marathon web site at www.chevronhoustonmarathon.com or call (713) 957-3453.