The Houston Police Department said investigators believe the driver never slowed down.
The hit-and-run happened along busy Westpark, between Jeanetta and Ocee on Houston's westside, around 6:30 a.m.
People who live and work in the Tanglewilde neighborhood say they see the woman running daily between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
ABC13 obtained surveillance video that shows a woman running south on Ocee, turning East on Westpark, then returning about 90 seconds later.
On video, she makes the route several times, the last time she turned on Westpark she never returned.
"I got teary immediately. I hate to see anybody get hurt, or worse," Anthony Fertitta, a manager of a transmission shop adjacent to the location the woman was hit, said.
At about 6:30 a.m. HPD began getting calls about a woman on the road.
The impact was so hard that the woman was knocked out of her shoes. Police say because the driver didn't stop, he's facing potential criminal charges.
"There's a big difference between an accident and you stay on scene and help and leaving, it becomes a criminal scene at that point, and becomes failure to render aide," HPD Comm. Donna Crawford said.
The woman has not been officially identified, but several friends in the running community have shared comments online about the runner, who is around 60 years old.
She is an avid runner, and regularly participates in the Houston Marathon.
Houston police has collected video that shows the crash, but for now, has not released a description of the car they are looking for. Its possible, police say, that the car did not even slow down, let alone stop.
Anyone with information about the deadly crash is encouraged to contact HPD's hit-and-run division at 713-247-4065.
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