Credit: B Kay Richter and BK McKee

The new, locally organized San Antonio Marathon will replace the annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, which is poised to end its relationship with the city, San Antonio Sports officials said during a Monday evening press conference.

Organizers of the international Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series, last week said they will stop hosting events here, citing differences with the city and San Antonio Sports. The organization will host its last event here Dec. 7 and 8.

The inaugural San Antonio Marathon is scheduled to take place Dec 7, 2025, SA Sports honchos said during an unveiling at Civic Park in Hemisfair. Officials said they expect it to draw 18,000 people, TV station KSAT reports.

Runners can already sign up for the inaugural San Antonio Marathon with a special rate of $79 and $89 for the half and full marathon and $39 for the 5K. The race’s theme is “every step tells a story,” with themed miles highlighting the culture and history of San Antonio.

Last week, Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon revealed plans to depart San Antonio in an email to local runners. Organizers expressed disappointment that the city didn’t partner with the existing series before working to launch its own marathon.

“As we continue preparations for a great 2024 event, we are deeply saddened to share the news that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series San Antonio will not be returning to the Series in 2025,” the email read.

At the time, San Antonio Sports confirmed the news and said that a locally organized marathon would replace the international running series, which has had an Alamo City presence since 2008.

At Monday night’s press conference at Hemisfair, SA Sports officials said replacing the international series with a locally controlled event is a bid to raise San Antonio’s profile in the running community, KSAT reports. That would bring the city’s event closer to the prestige of races like the Boston Marathon, they added.

“We have created a strong marathon tradition over the years, and the new San Antonio Marathon will enhance the city’s stature with runners, helping solidify our race as a destination marathon in the tradition of New York and Boston,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in statement supplied to KSAT. “This change will benefit our community as well [as] marathon enthusiasts.”

Both San Antonio Sports CEO Jenny Carnes and Olympic runner Meb Keflezighi attended Monday’s unveiling.

At the event, San Antonio Marathon founder Josh Furlow stressed the importance of allowing San Antonio to pocket more of the profits of such a large-scale event, rather than outsourcing to what’s essentially a running chain, according to KSAT’s reporting.

Furlow expressed hope that the new event will “activate all of the culture, all of the restaurants and all the bars, while at the same time keeping all the money local in San Antonio.” 

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This article appears in Nov 13-26, 2024.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.