Calgary Marathon road closures include parts of Memorial Drive: What you need to know about this weekend's races
With close to 20,000 participants expected in this weekend's Calgary marathon, it's worthwhile checking out the resulting road closures and the best vantage points to watch the race.
For the first time, the event is being held over two days — Saturday and Sunday. This will allow organizers of the Servus Calgary Marathon to accommodate a record number of participants — expected to be around 18,000.
Participants will run, walk and wheel over the two days, with thousands more participants than the previous record of 14,750 set in 2014.
Both the 10 km and 5 km races are on Saturday, with the former starting at 7:30 a.m. and the latter at 9:15 a.m. The races begin at Stampede Park, at 1410 Olympic Way S.E., in front of GMC Stadium.
The full 42.2 km marathon and 21.1 km half marathon are on Sunday at 7 a.m., with the same start location.
The race is a celebration of Calgary's active living spirit, but it does bring a bit of traffic pain with it this year.
In past years, half of Memorial Drive was closed to traffic so that runners could use the roadway and traffic could use the other side of the road.
However, this year Memorial Drive is already half closed for flood mitigation construction. That means parts of the roadway near downtown will be completely closed on both Saturday and Sunday mornings, because the open half of the road will be needed for the race.
According to the City of Calgary website, Memorial Drive will be closed between the 4th Avenue Flyover ramp and 10th Street N.W. between 6 a.m. and noon on Saturday. On Sunday, Memorial Drive will be closed in this same area, as will the area between 10th Street N.W. and Kensington Road N.W.
There are additional road closures near the Stampede grounds, near the zoo, into Bridgeland and along Riverfront Avenue. On Sunday, road restrictions extend farther onto Parkdale Boulevard N.W. and Bowness Road N.W., because the two Sunday races feature longer distances.
A detailed list of road closures and restrictions is at calgary.ca/roads.
Spectators are welcome along the routes and race organizers encourage people to cheer on runners through the events on both days. Tips for spectators can be found at calgarymarathon.com.
With many runners participating in the race for various charities, the Calgary Marathon has now helped raise about $10 million for people in need. Last year marked the 60th annual Calgary Marathon.
For some running inspiration, check out this story.
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