Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Event Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
BMW Dallas Marathon tells Dallas committee it expects more than 30,000 participants for Dec. 12–14 weekend
Summary
Jason Shewhart, president of the Dallas White Rock Marathon (BMW Dallas Marathon), told the city’s ad hoc committee that the event Dec. 12–14 will host about 30,000 participants, includes a two-day expo, supports school and youth programs, and estimates a multi-million-dollar local economic impact.
Jason Shewhart, president of the Dallas White Rock Marathon (commonly known as the BMW Dallas Marathon), told the Ad Hoc Committee on Professional Sports Recruitment and Retention on Nov. 17 that the race weekend will return Dec. 12–14 with a slate of events expected to draw runners and walkers from across the country and abroad.
"We will host just over 30,000 runners and walkers, from all 50 states and about 22 countries, December 12 through the 14," Shewhart said in a presentation to the committee. The weekend includes a two-day health and fitness expo, packet pickup and 12 running and walking events designed to accommodate a range of ages and abilities.
Shewhart said the marathon organization has run in Dallas for more than five decades and is marking its 54th anniversary. He reported that the event has given just over $5 million to Scottish Rite for Children since the organizations’ partnership began in 1997 and cited a Dallas Sports Commission estimate that the weekend produces roughly $7 million in local economic impact. He also said 2024 saw slightly more than 27,000 participants and that the field has grown about 11 percent year over year.
The marathon also runs community programs: Shewhart highlighted the Encore Kids race with Dallas Independent School District, saying the event plans to host about 5,000 students free of charge and that earlier outreach included providing 600 students at H. S. Thompson Elementary with running shoes. He described the marathon organization as a small nonprofit with five full-time staff, 15 volunteer board members, 17 advisory panel members and more than 2,200 race-weekend volunteers.
Committee members thanked Shewhart and asked staff to follow up with additional economic-impact details. Shewhart said his team would work with city staff to provide a breakdown of revenue and attendance types (paid vs. comped tickets) upon request.
The committee did not take any formal action on the presentation; members expressed general support and encouraged continued coordination between the marathon organization and city staff ahead of the December event.
