Olympia marathon will bring traffic delays and road closures Sunday
The 45th annual Capital City Marathon will return to Olympia this weekend, bringing with it road closures and traffic delays.
In anticipation of the two-day event, the Olympia Police Department warned commuters to plan ahead.
“Help keep runners, spectators and other road users safe by taking alternate routes, avoiding the race route, or giving yourself extra time to get around town,” OPD shared in a Friday Facebook post.
Thousands of participants and spectators will be in town for multiple races, including a Kids’ Run at Heritage Park Saturday and the main event races at Sylvester Park Sunday. Organizers expect about 350 marathon runners, 1,400 half-marathon runners and 600 mile runners on Sunday, according to the Capital City Marathon Association website.
Sylvester Park will serve as the main hub for the event. The start and finish lines for the main event races will be on roads adjacent to the park, per the website.
The marathon run will begin at 7 a.m. on Washington Street between Legion Way and Seventh Avenue. The half-marathon will start at 7:45 a.m., and the 5-mile run will start at 8 a.m. at the same location.
Meanwhile, the finish line for Sunday’s races will be located on Capitol Way at Sylvester Park, according to the race course map. The race courses will close by 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
Marathon and half-marathon runners travel north through downtown and up along East Bay.
Half-marathon runners are expected to turn back south on Friendly Grove Road, while marathon runners are expected to take a loop further north that passes by Boston Harbor.
After completing the loop, marathon runners are expected to take the same path as half-marathon runners back to Sylvester Park.
There will be four spectator viewing sites along the course, according to the event website. The first site is at marathon mile 15 at the intersection of Lemon Road and Woodard Bay Road.
The second site is at marathon mile 19 and half-marathon mile 6 at the corner of 26th and Friendly Grove Road. The third site will be located at marathon mile 21 and half-marathon mile 7.5, which is two blocks west of San Francisco Street Bakery.
Lastly, the fourth site will be near marathon mile 22 and half-marathon mile 9 along Eastside Street.
Five-mile runners are expected to complete a different loop that’s south of the marathon and half-marathon routes.
Run Fair, an exposition event, will be at Sylvester Park from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Visitors can expect sponsors and local businesses to be set up at the park.
A map and video of the race courses and can be found on capitalcitymarathon.org.
