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7TH ANNUAL RACE SELECTED TO HOST RRCA TEXAS STATE HALF MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIP

LA PORTE, TEXAS (February 19, 2016) – Running Alliance Sport (RAS) is pleased to

announce that November’s seventh annual La Porte By The Bay Half Marathon has been awarded the Texas State Half Marathon Championship by the Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) for the second time in its short history. RRCA Texas state representatives Marcus Grunwald (North Texas) and Lee Greb (South Texas) made the announcement last month in releasing the complete RRCA Texas State Championship schedule for 2016. Starting at Sylvan Beach Park, located within the city limits of La Porte, the La Porte By The Bay Half Marathon goes over and back the majestic Fred Hartman Bridge and finishes in the city’s Five Points Town Plaza area. The race, to be held on Sunday, November 20, 2016, is the third and final race of the sixth annual Texas Bridge Series, which includes a pair of 10-kilometer races in September and October, respectively – the Toughest 10K Kemah and Toughest 10K Galveston. It will be the 12th Texas State or Southern Region Championship race since 2010 that RAS has hosted for the RRCA – the oldest and largest national association of running organizations dedicated to growing the sport of running since 1958 with over 2,400 member clubs and events representing over 250,000 running club members. The La Porte By The Bay Half Marathon last hosted the RRCA Texas State Half Marathon Championship in 2013. The complete 2016 RRCA Texas State Championship schedule is as follows: Saturday, March 19 – Bayou City Classic 10K, Houston Saturday, May 7 – Dallas Running Club White Rock-Roll 10 Miler, Dallas Saturday, August 4 – Run In The Sun 8K, San Angelo Saturday, October 22 – Double Trouble 5K, Grapevine Saturday, November 20 – La Porte By The Bay Half Marathon, La Porte Saturday, December 11 – Dallas Marathon, Dallas

Three other Running Alliance Sport races – the Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon, the Baytown Bud Heat Wave and the Toughest 10K Kemah – have hosted an RRCA Texas State or Southern Region Championship. The Seabrook Lucky Trail Marathon has been the RRCA Texas State Marathon Championship five of the last six years dating back to 2010, while the Baytown Bud Heat Wave was the 5-Mile RRCA Texas State Championship in 2012 and 2013. The first race of the Texas Bridge Series – the Toughest 10K Kemah – was the RRCA Texas State 10K Championship in 2014 and was last year’s – as well as this year’s – host of the RRCA Southern Region 10K Championship, which covers 11 states including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Up to ten (10) male and ten (10) female overall winners of half marathon races held in Texas from November 15, 2015 until race day that meet the minimum qualifying standards for the half marathon distance (1:17:55 men and 1:30:11 women) determined by the Chevron Houston Marathon and its local elite invited runner program will be granted a complimentary entry to compete for the state title.

The proceeds from the La Porte By The Bay Half Marathon – and the entire Texas Bridge Series -- go directly to The Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Inc., a Pasadena, Texas organization whose mission is to offer support, provide safety, and prevent domestic and sexual violence.

Since 2011, Running Alliance Sport has donated more than $463,000 to local charities.

For more information about Running Alliance Sport and its upcoming races, please visit www.runningalliancesport.org.

About Running Alliance Sport Based out of the greater Bay Area Houston area, Running Alliance Sport (RAS) is a not-for-profit event production company that has a passion for producing quality running events which in turn support local communities and its charities. RAS successfully works with city governments in Seabrook, Kemah, La Porte, Baytown, Galveston and Tiki Island to produce five races annually from March to November that engages nearly 500 volunteers, sends over 7,250 runners and walkers across finish lines and donates over $100,000 to local charities. For more information, please visit www.runningalliancesport.org.