Runners, music lovers move to the head of the pack this weekend

Cowtown Marathon

1 It's the 40th edition of the city's signature race, which begins in the Cultural District, heads up into the neighborhoods of the Stockyards and on to downtown and the TCU area before ending where it all began. Runners can sign up for the marathon, half-marathon and ultra-marathon. Races are Saturday and Sunday. Nonrunners can check the website for street closures. Want to cheer on the runners? Join the crowd at the Fairmount Cheer Station, 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday at Fairmount Park, 1501 Fifth Ave. (If you want waffles, get there before 9:30 a.m.) For more information about the Cowtown, visit cowtownmarathon.org.

'The Firebird'

2 This ballet put a young Igor Stravinsky on the path to success for a reason. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will perform the 1919 revision of the Suite from "The Firebird" at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Bass Hall. Also on the program is Rachmaninoff's "Isle of the Dead" and Brahm's Violin Concerto, Op. 77, the latter featuring young American violinist William Hagen. Tickets are $20-$85. Bass Hall is at 525 Commerce St., Fort Worth. 817-665-6000; fwsymphony.org

Cliburn festival

3 This event, celebrating the 60th anniversary of Fort Worth pianist Van Cliburn's historic win at the first Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, continues with concerts of Russian music at 7:30 p.m Friday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Friday evening's concert, titled "Wartime," features pianists Yury Favorin, Alexander Kobrin and Georgy Tchaidze and the Rolston String Quartet. Individual concert tickets are $20-$50. The museum is at 3200 Darnell St., Fort Worth. 817-212-4280; cliburn.org

St. Vincent

4 The Grammy-winning musician and singer, nee Annie Clark, brings her "Fear the Future" tour back to Dallas, where she once performed with the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. Opening will be Clark's aunt and uncle, who perform as Tuck and Patti. Clark is touring behind last year's "Masseduction" album. Tickets for the concert, at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Bomb Factory, are $69-$139. The Bomb Factory is at 2713 Canton St., Dallas. 214-932-6501; www.thebombfactory.com

Stolen Shakespeare's 'Lost at Sea' fest

5 Wade into the third weekend of the Stolen Shakespeare Guild's mid-winter festival, which consists of "Twelfth Night" and "The Tempest" in rotation through March 4. This weekend it's "Twelfth Night" at 8 p.m. Friday and "The Tempest" at 2 p.m. Sunday, both in the Sanders Theatre of the Fort Worth Community Arts Center, 1300 Gendy St., Fort Worth. Tickets are $15-$17. 866-811-4111; www.stolenshakespeareguild.com

Iron Cowboy

6 Nowhere else on earth does eight seconds seem like an eternity than at the rodeo, specifically on the back of a bull at the rodeo. Watch the pros do what they do best at this Saturday's Professional Bull Riders' Iron Cowboy event, one of four majors on the PBR circuit. The field includes three Texas riders — Cooper Davis of Jasper, Cody Teel of Kountze and Keyshawn Whitehorse of The Woodlands. The event starts at 5:50 p.m. — yes, that's right — Saturday at AT&T Stadium. Tickets are $10-$152 at the stadium box office, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. The stadium is 1 AT&T Way, Arlington.

Dallas Blooms: A World of Flowers

7 It's not so much the red-breasted robin that signals the approach of spring as it is this botanical extravaganza at the Dallas Arboretum. It's billed as the "largest floral festival in the Southwest." The centerpiece of this year's fest, which runs Saturday through April 8, is kind of thrilling: a large floral map of the world. Each week will focus on a different world region. Admission is $15 adults, $12 age 65 and older, $10 ages 3-12 and free 2 and younger. Friday, walk-up admission is $5 off. 8525 Garland Road, Dallas. 214-515-6615; www.dallasarboretum.org

Golden Gloves tournament

8The 2018 Texas State Golden Gloves Regional Tournament, which started its run Tuesday in Fort Worth, goes into its windup with boxing at 7 p.m. Friday and then the finals for all weight classes, beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, in the W.R. Watt Arena in the Will Rogers complex. This year's field of boxers includes women for the first time. The state tournament will be Feb. 28-March 3, also at Will Rogers. Tickets for this week's regional tournament are $10-$25 at the door. The Will Rogers complex is at 3401 W. Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth.

Mercy Me and Tenth Avenue Live

9 MercyMe, the Christian supergroup that was up for two Grammys at last month's awards ceremony, is coming to Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie with opener Tenth Avenue Live. The band has a movie, "I Can Only Imagine," based on its hit song and starring Dennis Quaid and Cloris Leachman, opening next month. The concert will be at 8 p.m. Saturday; doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $39.75-$89.75. Verizon Theatre is at 1001 Performance Place, Grand Prairie. 972-854-5050; www.axs.com

Girls Engineering Day

10 Engineering Week draws kids of all ages to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History each year. Activities 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday involve cool stuff such as robotics, electricity, LED technology and even a Lockheed Martin flight simulator. Saturday's emphasis will be Girls & Engineering with women engineers from area companies on hand. The activities are free with admission, $12 for ages 2-18, $15 adults. The museum is at 1600 Gendy St., Fort Worth. 817-255-9300; fwmuseum.org

This story was originally published February 21, 2018 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Runners, music lovers move to the head of the pack this weekend."