
Darah Hubbard
Tamara Ogle, training director with the Cowtown Marathon.
The inspiration for the original marathon came from the story of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger who, according to legend, ran over 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a Greek victory in the Battle of Marathon before collapsing and dying from exhaustion. Yeah, doesn’t sound like the most enticing thing.
And Tamara Ogle, despite being a training director with the Cowtown Marathon, understands one’s hesitance at or dislike for running such distances. After all, she was once in the same boat.
“I grew up with a dad who ran marathons, and my mom also was very active, and I just didn’t understand it,” Ogle says. “He took me to a 5K when I was 13, and I hated every minute of it.”
But, like a child developing a palate for veggies as they grow older, Ogle began to enjoy running as an adult and would eventually tackle her first Cowtown Marathon in her 30s. Unfortunately, her father, whom Ogle credits as her role model, got sick when she was first starting to run and died before he could see her complete a marathon. “So, on my first marathon,” Ogle says, “I had a little sign on my back that was dedicated to him.”
And Ogle, a wife and mom of three, would also discover that, despite the fate of Pheidippides, running and training for marathons or half-marathons had the opposite effect: It was lifesaving.
“I think some people don’t even realize how big a part of their life [running] can be,” Ogle says. “That is until they get into it, and it becomes very rewarding.”
After spending 14 years as an educator — 10 years teaching sixth grade and four years teaching PE — Ogle began teaching boot camps and triathlons. And, over time, the girl who once hated running began sporting a resume that now includes four Ironmans (this includes a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile marathon), 10 marathons, and a run up Pikes Peak to boot.
And with a job at Cowtown Marathon, a place she’s now worked for seven years, it’s safe to say that Ogle has made endurance sports her life. As the marathon’s training director, Ogle coordinates the Cowtown Trailblazers, a six-month training program for people who want to complete a half, full, or ultra marathon.
“We start out with really low mileage, and then we work our way up depending if someone’s doing a half marathon or marathon,” Ogle says. “I make routes from [our Cowtown Marathon offices] and they run all around Fort Worth, and we put out water stops and switch it up every week.”
Ogle says Cowtown Trailblazers is for everybody no matter their experience in running. “Men, women, sometimes it’ll be first-time runners, and we have people in their 70s and even a 14-year-old. So, it’s just a wide variety of people.” And, according to Ogle, it’s being part of this community, not completing races, that makes running so rewarding.
“Anybody can go and run by themselves,” Ogle says. “But when they have a team of people that they’re running with every Saturday, they become like a little family.”
BY THE WAY ...

Darah Hubbard
Ogle has been vegan for 5 1/2 years. While she prefers to cook at home — and has some incredible recipes — here are some of her favorite restaurants with vegan options in Fort Worth.
- Pizza Verde
- Belenty’s Love Mexican Vegan Restaurant
- Maiden
Favorite spots for Cowtown Trailblazer group running courses:
- Trinity Trails
- Overton Park
- Main Street Bridge
- North Side
FROM THE FEED

1. Summer running camp, where kids ran a 5K around Bluebonnet Circle.

2. Belenty’s Love Mexican Vegan Restaurant.

3. Ogle’s daughter, Sydney; son, Jack; daughter, Samantha; and husband, Jack.

4. Annual run to Sundance Square Christmas Tree with Cowtown Trailblazers.

5. Pistol squats at the top of Enchanted Rock.

6. Morning run from LA Fitness to her father’s memorial bench on Trinity Trails.

7. From a mobility class Ogle teaches at Cowtown Marathon.