The first marathon, run on December 30, 1972, featured 113 runners and a crowd of approximately 200 people. The course was a loop of , and runners were served beef stew after the race. The 1979 edition of the competition hosted the national marathon championship race for men and women. Houston was selected for the women's Olympic Trials in 1992 and held the
USATF women's marathon championship in 1998. The half marathon course hosted the USATF Men's Half Marathon Championship from 2005 to 2008, and also hosted the women's event in 2007 and 2008. The 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials for both men and women were held the Saturday prior to the Sunday races.
George W. Bush ran in the Houston Marathon at age 46 in 1993, finishing with a time of 3 hours, 44 minutes, 52 seconds. The 2014 edition included a 5K event run on Saturday, January 18th and the marathon and half marathon run on Sunday, January 19th. The 5K event had close to 5,000 runners while the marathon and half marathon had nearly 13,000 runners each. The 2021 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the
coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of running the race virtually (and receiving a discount for the race in 2022), or transferring their entry to 2022 or 2023. The virtual marathon was planned for January 2021. ==Course==