The 2018 Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Marathon will award the highest elite prize purse to date. New for all four races in 2018 is the extension of prize money awarded to the top eight finishers in all four races – previously prize money was awarded through the top seven finishers. 
“We are fortunate to be able to accommodate one of the largest professional fields in the industry. We want to advance the level of competition our races draw, and continuously evaluating our total prize purse is one of the ways we facilitate the growth of our elite program,” said Kotch. A total of $281,000 in guaranteed prize money will be awarded on Jan. 14, including a $45,000 first place payout for both the men’s and women’s champions at the 2018 Chevron Houston Marathon and a $20,000 first place payout for both the men’s and women’s champions at the 2018 Aramco Houston Half Marathon.
The race to the tape will be tight with two returning champions in the men’s field and four past champions in the women’s race of the Chevron Houston Marathon. Dominic Ondoro (KEN), the 2017 champion returns to defend his title, while Bazu Worku (ETH), 2013 and 2014 Chevron Houston Marathon Champion, hopes to challenge Ondoro and the rest of the proven men’s field. In the women’s race, Veronicah Nyaruai Wanjiru (ERI), the 2017 
Aramco Houston Half Marathon winner, moves up in distance to the Chevron Houston Marathon this year. But a title in the marathon distance won’t come easy to Wanjiru here in Houston. She’ll have to battle against Biruktayit Degefa (ETH), the 2016 Chevron Houston Marathon champion, who is back after her runner-up finish in 2017; Abebech Afework Bekele (ETH), the 2014 Chevron Houston Marathon champion, returns for the first time since her victory; and Mamitu Daska (ETH), the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon champion and 2013 Aramco Houston Half Marathon champion will look to contest the crown.
Kinky Boots is based on the 2005 British film of the same name, which was in turn inspired by a 1999 episode of the BBC 2's documentary television series Trouble at the Top. It followed the true story of Steve Pateman, who was struggling t
o save his family-run shoe factory from closure and decided to produce fetish footwear for men, under the brand name "Divine Footwear". Daryl Roth, a Tony Award-winning producer, saw the film at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and fell in love with its "heart and soul". She felt that its themes resonated and thought that the story had potential as source material for a musical. Independently, Hal Luftig saw the film in London and agreed "that its heart and humanity (and bigger-than-life leading 'lady') would translate well to musical theatre." Within a year, Roth secured the rights to adapt the film to the stage and partnered with Luftig, a Tony and Olivier Award-winning producer.