In its sixth year, the City of Oaks Marathon and Rex HealthCare Half Marathon will highlight the sites of North Carolina’s capital on a 26.2 mile and 13.1 mile course around the city on November 4, 2012. This year the course has improved for runners and minimized roadway impacts. The race returns to Hillsborough Street where runners will start and finish at the NC State Bell Tower.
Come out and support the runners and local businesses along Hillsborough Street and Cameron Village. There are more races than the marathons that are attracting local and out-of-town athletes. Here’s a list of all five races:
- Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon
- Rex Healthcare Half Marathon
- News & Observer Old Reliable 10K
- Four-person Marathon Relay
- YMCA Kids’ Marathon Mile
With any road race, there will be road closures for most of the morning and into the afternoon. Here is a list of the major streets to avoid on November 4, if you’re trying to get around Raleigh:
- Hillsborough Street from I-440 to the Belltower: 7:00 am – 1:00 pm. Come on down to support the runners, businesses will be open. Park on NC State campus or Cameron Village (a short work)
- Western Blvd: 7:00 – 7:30am
- In Downtown Raleigh runners will make a lap around the Capital Building and Union Square. It will be tough navigate the downtown grid between 7:15 am and 8:45 am, be alert at: Boylan Ave, Morgan St, McDowell St, Dawson St, Fayetteville St, Morgan St, Wilmington St, Salisbury St, Glenwood Ave.
- Between Glenwood South and Cameron Village runners will use Peace St and Clark Avenue. Note: the 10k ends at Cameron Village so grab a morning coffee from your favorite shop and cheer on the runners from there!
- Runners go through the University Park neighborhood on Clark Ave, O’Berry, Brooks Ave, and Dixie Trail.
- The intersection at Hillsborough St and Gorman Street / Faircloth will be very active with runners and will be a great viewing location, but should be avoided by motorists.
One of the major improvements this year is keeping runners off of Blue Ridge Road. The half marathon course turns around just shy of the 1-440 interchange, so that section of town should avoid major delays due to the race.
Here is the detailed marathon course:
- Start on Hillsborough Street near the Belltower
- Begin by running towards downtown (eastbound)
- Turn right onto Ashe Avenue
- Turn left onto westbound Western Blvd (from west side of triangle in
intersection)- Turn left onto Boylan Ave
- Turn right onto Morgan St
- Turn right onto Dawson St
- Turn left onto Martin St
- Turn left onto Fayetteville St
- Turn right onto Morgan St
- Turn left onto Wilmington St
- Turn left onto Salisbury St
- Turn right onto Hillsborough St
- Turn right onto Glenwood Ave
- Turn left onto Peace St
- Continue onto Clark Ave
- Turn right onto Brooks Ave
- Turn left onto O’Berry
- Turn left onto Dixie Trail
- Turn right onto Clark Ave
- Turn right onto Faircloth
- U-turn at about Brookwood
- South on Faircloth to Hillsborough
- Enter Greenway at Hillsborough & Faircloth
- Follow Greenway – cross over Horton
- Follow Greenway – cross over Glen Eden
- Follow Greenway – cross over Blue Ridge Rd
- Left onto Crabtree Valley Ave
- U-turn onto Greenway
- Follow Greenway on East side of Shelley Lake
- U-turn on Greenway and return on same route
- Exit Greenway at Faircloth
- Right on Hillsborough
- U-turn at the Beltline
- Proceed west on Hillsborough to start/finish
Good luck runners. Finish strong!