15-05-2025
Colfax Marathon to cause light rail, bus detours
DENVER (KDVR) — The Colfax Marathon is celebrating its 18th anniversary in 2025.
Tens of thousands of runners will take to the streets of Denver and Lakewood, which will, in turn, cause a lot of foot traffic. The marathon runs along one of the busiest streets in the Denver metro, and making sure their route is safe is of the utmost importance.
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To do so, the Regional Transportation District will have to divert several standard routes for buses and light rail trains starting on May 17 from 9 a.m. to noon and on May 18 from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Some roads will also be impacted, leading to closures from 5 a.m. to about 1 p.m., depending on the part of the city.
D and H lines will not serve Colfax at Auraria Station through the Downtown Loop stations on Stout and California streets
D and H lines will continue to serve 10th•Osage Station, and will reroute to serve Auraria West Station, Empower Field at Mile High Station, Ball Arena•Elitch Gardens Station and Union Station
The L Line will not be in service, and customers are encouraged to use bus Route 43 as an alternative option
No impacts to RTD rail service are expected to occur on Saturday, May 17
Customers should expect delays on D, E, H and W lines during the event due to increased rail traffic at Union Station. Plan for extra travel time to/from Downtown
May 17 only: routes 20 and 24 will have a minor detour around the event, 9 a.m. to noon, during the Colfax 5K race
May 18 only: the following bus routes will be temporarily detoured in many areas, and will be allowed to cross the marathon route when possible: 0, 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 15L, 16, 19, 20, 24, 28, 30, 38, 40, 43, 44, 48, 51, 52, 76, 83L, ART, MALL
RTD said that customers using routes affected by the marathon should expect delays and detours, which may affect scheduled connecting bus and rail trips.
The agency also said that on May 18, several routes and lines will accept marathon race bibs as fare. Those lines include:
Rail lines: W Line
Bus routes: 15, 15L, 16
While Interstate 25 will remain open, other roads will see some closures. On the east, Colorado Boulevard will be open, except southbound from 29th to 17th, and all roads east of Colorado Boulevard will be open.
To the west, Kipling will be open, as will be all roads west of Kipling. Race organizers recommend that motorists 'in general, stay south of Colfax and north of 29th.' Road closures are rolling close and open, and will reopen after the last runner.
The course loops around Sloan's Lake and City Park, as well as the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design campus. A race course map can be found here.
More information on the race can be found on the Run Colfax website.
Information regarding the RTD routes and lines can be found on the RTD website.
FOX31's Heather Willard contributed to this report.
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