Executives from San Antonio Sports and the City of San Antonio on Monday announced the brand-new San Antonio Marathon, which begins in 2025.
Registration has already started for the inaugural event hosted by the city’s nonprofit sports commission, which replaces the long-running event hosted by the International Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series.
Thousands are expected to be in town Dec. 2-4 for The Running Event, North America’s largest running convention. The San Antonio Marathon is scheduled for Dec. 7, 2025 and is expected to draw more than 18,000 runners and walkers, according to San Antonio Sports.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio sent an email to past participants on Friday announcing that it was “deeply saddened” it would not be returning to San Antonio in 2025 after 16 years. The organizers’ last marathon will be on Dec. 7 and 8.
“While we had hoped to continue producing this long standing event for years to come, the City of San Antonio and San Antonio Sports have decided to move in a different direction by organizing their own running event instead of partnering with us to host the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series,” the email read.
At the unveiling of the name and logo of San Antonio’s new major running event, San Antonio Sports CEO Jenny Carnes said it was the right time to start something new, and something San Antonio can call its own.
“Over the course of 16 years, we have seen our city grow and evolve, as has San Antonio Sports, which is why now is the right time … This will be a destination marathon that tells our story of what makes our city uniquely beautiful and done in a way that attracts thousands of locals and visitors alike,” she said.
Josh Furlow, former CEO of Competitor Group, operated the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series event in San Antonio in 2010. He sold the Competitor Group to The IRONMAN Group in 2017, and is now the Founder and CEO of The Trust Group, which is partnering with the city and SA Sports to create the San Antonio Marathon.
“Here we are full-circle, we have the city calling me saying, ‘Can you come back and help San Antonio Sports?’,” he said.
As the contract date to renew with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon approached, conversations began to continue the race, make it better, activate neighborhoods, restaurants and bars and to keep the money local, he said.
“It’s just time for the city to take the pride, take the ownership, and really control the ownership of what they want this event to turn into,” Furlow he said. “It’s all local. It all stays local.”
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon drew thousands of runners to downtown San Antonio who picked routes, including the marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K. Every mile of the race, runners enjoy live entertainment, including a variety music including mariachis, dance performances and more.
The running series will continue in other cities, including Las Vegas, Madrid, Nashville, San Diego, San Jose, Washington, D.C. and Manila.
The Trust Group will oversee the San Antonio Marathon, managing business strategy, revenue generation, race operation and course design, and is bringing in U.S. Olympian Meb Keflezighi to help design a Boston Marathon-qualifying course.
“Running is difficult,” Keflezighi said from a microphone at Civic Park. “But you’re all here to do one thing: To be the best version of yourself. And I’m glad to help bring the San Antonio Marathon to downtown, where so many people can cheer you on.”
The race will include The Yanaguana Mile, the Fiesta Mile, the Military Mile, the Rodeo Mile, and the Culinary Mile.
Online registration opened Monday night at a special rate of $39 for the 5K, $79 for the half-marathon and $89 for the marathon.
With extensive areas of construction happening in the downtown core Carnes said she was confident they’d be ready to host the running event. The city is already working hard to get ready for the NCAA Final Four event.