MEMPHIS, Tenn.– Tens of thousands of runners and their families will soon lace up and hit the pavement for the St. Jude marathon on Saturday, December 4.
The anticipation building even more this year as crowds are once again welcomed this year following the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
Memphis Police, the city and the research hospital are ready for everyone to pack the Memphis streets.
“We talk about large-scale events, there’s an opportunity for risk in all large-scale events as we open the city, as we open the country back up,” said Colonel Keith Watson with Memphis Police.
It’s an event so many look forward to and some of the big changes will actually take place in the South Main area.
There will be changes when it comes to traffic flow.
“South Main District, we’ve all seen the growth that has happened in South Main in the last couple years, that area will be one of the first areas that we open up. We will release those parking spaces as well as open up parts of South Main before any other part of the course,” Colonel Watson said.
Those traffic points will be at Lauderdale and Beale, Bass Pro Drive and the Tennessee Welcome Center, and Union and Wagner Place.
“Riverside will remain open throughout the race. We’ve done a couple of extra things because of that, we’ve added an additional rideshare point, we’ve got three rideshare points for cabs, Lyft, Ubers, carpool,” said Terry Glover with the City of Memphis.
You will also be able to track the traffic changes on your phone to help with navigation.
“We have also put the closures into the Waze app. Which we discovered in 2019 actually affects Google maps. So you’ll be able to see the road closures in real time in both apps,” Glover said.
All of these traffic changes affect not only those runners, but also those who live and work downtown.
Ashley Wilkinson, who manages Grecian Gourmet on South Main, said her team has been busy getting ready to feed hungry runners and their families post marathon.
They also making sure they plan ahead for traffic too.
“We’re making preparations to get here early so that we can actually get to the restaurant before the race,” she said. “We’re just so excited to be a part of it.”
If you want to get involved in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon, visit their website. To see the course maps, click here.