GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For 16 years, the Grand Rapids Marathon shuts down streets downtown and gives runners from across the state and the country the opportunity to see the city and the beautiful fall colors in the area.
Sunday, the race kicks off at 8 a.m.
The Grand Rapids Marathon positions itself as a flat, fast course that gives runners the opportunity to set new personal records or qualify for bigger runs, like the Boston Marathon.
The course takes runners through downtown and takes them out of the city into the trails at Millennium Park.
The marathon also invites athletes to participate in the Wheelchair and Handcycle division, which starts at 7:30 a.m.
The start line is at the David D Hunting YMCA on Winter Street and these streets will be closed for the race:
- Runners will run south on Winter to Fulton Street. They’ll turn right (west) on Fulton to Seward Ave and proceed north on Seward to Leonard Street.
- They’ll then turn right (east) on Leonard, and continue to Broadway where they will turn right (south).
- Runners will proceed on Broadway until they reach Sixth Street, where they’ll turn left (east) and cross the Historic Sixth Street Bridge, continuing on to Monroe Avenue.
- The course then takes runners south (right) on Monroe, and they pass through Downtown Grand Rapids, staying on Monroe until they get to Fulton Street.
- At Fulton Street runners will turn right (west) and continue on Fulton until they reach Winter Street, where they will turn left (south) on Winter, and continue to run south on Winter/Watson/Front Streets to Wealthy Street.
- They turn right (west) on Wealthy and run about one-half mile until they get to the entrance of Butterworth Park.
- Once runners have reached Butterworth Park, most of the remaining course will be run on paved trails. Even on the remaining portions of the course that take runners on main roads (i.e., Butterworth and Maynard), there will be minimal traffic disruption, since the runners will be spread out enough when they reach that point.
This is the 13th year that Metro Health has sponsored the marathon. This year, Metro Health also sponsored other events happening over the weekend, like the Run Thru the Rapids 5K, 10K and Family Walk on Saturday.
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