Published: January 11, 2018

Inspiring and educating people toward healthier lives is what UNT Health Science Center is all about. As we start a new year, there is no better time to prioritize health and wellness. So we hope our message of “Get ’em off the fence. Get movin’!” inspires our community toward more physical activity . . . and participation in Fort Worth’s annual Cowtown Marathon events.

UNT Health Science Center helped establish the Cowtown Marathon, a 26-mile race that has been an annual highlight of Fort Worth winters since 1979. The race’s initial purpose was to promote fitness and nutrition for Fort Worth residents, an approach well-suited to UNTHSC physicians, who took a holistic approach to health long before it became a mainstay of medicine.

The 40th Cowtown Marathon will be Feb. 23-25, 2018. The weekend event hosts six distance races, involves 4,300 volunteers and attracts some 28,000 runners from Texas and beyond. Its charity, the Cowtown C.A.L.F. Program, impacts some 18,000 youth in the community each year by offering running training to schools across Fort Worth, as well as race entry-fee grants and new running shoes to qualifying children in need.