ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run

A lot of fun. Check it out!

Been running for 2 years at this WONDERFUL EVENT. The only downside is having to run through a seedy neighborhood with abandoned houses, but neighbors come out to support the runners so it’s a decent trade-​off. I ran the Conn’s Green 6.2 in 2011 and, although the houses were gorgeous, there were maybe 5 or 6 people outside showing their support throughout the whole race.
**Wonderful results system with interactive map, video, race breakdown. It really spoils you!
As long as my health says so I will be participating with ConocoPhillips for years to come!

I often do the Annual Stateman Capitol 10k in downtown Austin so it was only natural I should do a fun run in my favorite city of Houston. And so I registered for the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run because it is the equivalent of the Capitol 10k for Houston.
I was impressed that they worked hills into the 10k course. There is plenty of crowd and volunteer support along the way. It is a good course through downtown Houston which reflects its industrial history and wealth disparity. The post-​race party is one of the better ones because they have live music, tons of bagels and bananas, water, gatorade, commemorative cup, tired-​looking and happy fellow runners, and free stuff from sponsors. Sometimes it is very humid and you wish there was an extra water station along the Elysian viaduct. I never ran in Houston humidity before my first Rodeo Run and got dehydrated early on.
The vehicular traffic at the finish line area is usually slow and crawling so it is faster for me to park near the start line and walk the half-​mile back to my car. The area around the post-​race party block is sad because there is so much homelessness.
This race is very well-​organized from packet pickup to the post-​race party. I would recommend paying the extra $ 7 to have your packet mailed to you because packet pickup parking can be a nightmare. There are lots of clean portolets at the start line.
Houston needs more of these fun races to keep out of the top ten fattest cities in America. :-) The only downside of the Rodeo Run is that many people start out much closer to the front than they should but hey, maybe it’s their first race and they didn’t know.
If you are a Houstonian, you should run this at least once in your life!