Wow, time passes fast. I just realized that the 2019 Houston Marathon will be my 40th year. I started in 1979. But the Houston Marathon Committee (HMC) isn’t looking back, they’re already looking ahead! In 2022 The Houston Marathon will turn 50! That’s right it’s long surpassed Legacy status but we look forward to celebrating the 50th year of the Houston Marathon and what’s to come. The team is already thinking ahead and creating ways they can make that race even more special. If I may offer a small bit of advice…all of you reading this newsletter should keep showing up every year and encourage our potential future Legacy runners for the countdown to 2022. It’s just three years away!

The HMC continues to support and encourage the growth of our legacy groups through several initiatives. Both the marathon and half marathon legacy runners enjoy some leeway in the way of extended deadlines for guaranteed entry in the registration process and special perks are offered to all of us as we achieve new 5-year levels. If you’re not aware of them, you can find more details about those perks on the HMC Legacy page.

If you’re new to the Legacy ranks and have a need for some background or just a plain history buff, take a glance at our old newsletters dating back to 1999 on that same Legacy page referenced above. If you have been around awhile, your name and perhaps even pictures have likely appeared in some of those stories. And if you just want to take a look at past year’s results head over to the Houston Results website for any finisher data you might need. And to make sure you’re informed on all things Chevron Houston Marathon, be sure to follow the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. You can even check in on the Chevron Houston Marathon website to keep current on what is happening.

I encourage you as you’re training your way to January 2019 to look beyond your running and make a bucket list of adventures, maybe that list includes mountain summits, great day hikes, even overnight back pack trips, and scenery that you can’t see from the road but keep on moving. And a word of caution as some of us legacy runners age, please get your annual physical checkups, particularly if you have family history of heart problems. You can pass a treadmill test and still have heart disease.

Arlen Isham is a 38 year Houston Marathon finisher and Chief Copy Paste Guy of the Legacy Program.