GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The streets of downtown Grand Rapids are quiet Friday morning, but that is going to change on Saturday when thousands flock to take part in the 44th annual Amway River Bank Run.
It's been a very long time since the largest 25k in the country has taken place in Grand Rapids — almost 900 days — and now the event is back.
Event planners said they are very excited that things are getting closer to normal. In addition to the 25K, the Amway River Bank Run will also feature other races including a 10K, a 5K run, a 5K walk and handcycle and wheelchair race.
David Madiol, the race director, said you can already feel the excitement downtown.
"How excited are we? We are super excited," said Madiol. "We are excited for not only the Amway River Bank Run, we're excited for the runners, we're excited for the community. We're excited for the business owners in downtown Grand Rapids."
Madiol added, "It's time for us to get back to a little bit of normalcy and have this great traditional event in downtown Grand Rapids this weekend."
There will be plenty of street closures throughout downtown due to the event. Some of the closures include: Wealthy Street at Market Avenue; Lake Michigan Drive between Winter and Valley Avenues; Pearl Street at Monroe and Ottawa avenues; Fulton Street between Ottawa and Winter avenues.
For a complete list of closures and a map of the route, click here.
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