Fort Worth

Cowtown Marathon Brings Together People With All Different Reasons to Run

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Tens of thousands of runners are flocking to Fort Worth right now for the 45th annual Cowtown Marathon.

A tradition since the late 1970s, it brings together people from all walks of life and all reasons to run.

When you look at the finish line outside the Will Rogers Memorial Center, it’s symbolic.

For some, it represents months or even years of hard work to test the mind and body to finish a marathon.

For others, it's a unique space to heal from losing loved ones.

Heather Ketchmark of El Paso is making the journey to Fort Worth to run in her first ever marathon in honor of her brother, Air Force staff Sergeant Timothy Bowles.

He was killed in action by an IED blast while serving in Afghanistan in March 2009.

Staff Sgt. Timothy Bowles was killed when his vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device while on a four-vehicle patrol checking on a local school March 15 in Eastern Afghanistan. He was deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. (Courtesy photo)

Ketchmark says her brother was always eager to help others and on the day he died, he had actually taken the place of a fellow team member who was sick.

"He just really loved living for life and he was always the athlete growing up. And so it was always kind of just on my list bucket list to just run a race in honor of him,” she said.

Ketchmark said healing has been hard for her family in the years since his passing but she’s finding a form of healing through being a part of the Wear Blue: Run to Remember team made up of several Gold Star families that will be participating in the Cowtown Marathon.

The group is a running community that serves as a support network for those preparing for a deployment, living through a deployment, recovering from a deployment and healing from loss sustained during a deployment. They travel to races throughout the country and invites anyone in the community a tangible way to show their appreciation and support for the military.

Her brother’s picture will be one of many in the Wear Blue Mile this weekend, which features ribbons and faces of the fallen on posters honoring service members who lost their lives during their years of active duty service.

She recalls a message from one of her team leaders – who had lost loved a ones to war but didn’t want to lose themselves to grief.

"And I really do wish that if I had heard those words immediately following my brother's death, I think that would have definitely been a turning point for me back then but I've been able to hear them now and put them into practice. So I'm really excited for the opportunity.” Ketchmark said.

The off-duty Euless police officer's widow has sues several companies and individuals involved in the incident, arguing that they share responsibility.

Aside from special teams, there are also so many elite runners taking part this weekend including Olympians, record holders and champions from other marathons.

About 20,000 runners have signed up so far for the Cowtown Marathon event. There are still open spaces in the 10K and 5K events on Saturday, so registration is still open. Spots are filling up fast for the longer marathon races on Sunday so runners are encouraged to register by the end of day Friday.

Click here to plan your experience.

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