
From the Organizer
In 2009 Scott was deployed over Christmas. On Christmas Eve of that year he told me he was going to run a half marathon. When I asked him why, he said, because he was deployed and not able to be at home. The following year on a training run for a half marathon he and I were running together, he tells me he was going to do the same thing he did the year prior on Christmas Eve but from home this time. Knowing how our Oklahoma running community responds to a good cause and GOOD TIMES, we invited the Oklahoma City Southside Running Club to join us.
In 2010, our first year as hosts, we had 24 runners. Our second year we grew to 43 runners. Our last year as hosts (2012) in 11 degree temps, we had our best showing yet. 60 runners came to our home ready to run!!!!!
Since our move from OKC, we have hosted an event in Virginia Beach (in 2013), and our good friend Stacey Brown offered to carry on the tradition in Oklahoma City and host the run from her home there. My BFF in Auburn (Seattle), Washington hosts a contingent and our family members who gather in PA at Christmas also try and run. We have a former Okie Friend, also continuing the tradition in her new home state OREGON! We hope to keep it going year after year!
We thank you for caring about your service members, near and far. We appreciate you coming out each year, despite the conditions, in a showing of support for all they do and sacrifice. It's a small gesture, but one we feel is profoundly felt.
Distances & Pricing
Race Location
About This Sport
Endurance Grid is here to help you understand the sport, decide if it's the right fit, and learn how to prepare. For course distances, logistics, and race-day specifics, always defer to the race organizer's event page.
The half marathon is the distance where you find out what you're actually made of. Long enough to demand real preparation. Short enough that it doesn't consume your life to train for it. Most people who run their first half describe it as the race that changed their relationship with what they're capable of. Once you cross this finish line, the bar moves. That's not a warning — that's the point.
Race day energy varies by event size, but the finish line feeling is the same regardless. Big races keep the noise going the whole way. Smaller races give you stretches where it's just you and the miles — and that solitude becomes its own kind of fuel.
The half marathon rewards people who show up for the boring training miles.
How long to train: 10–14 weeks. If you're already running consistently, 10 weeks of structured buildup is enough. If you're building from a casual base, give yourself 14.
From 5K to marathon, running races are the most accessible entry point into endurance sport. There's a distance for every fitness level and a community at every start line.
Coming Up
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Kilgore Half Marathon & 10k
Dec 24, 2026