St. Jude
Street closures for the 17th annual St. Jude Marathon will begin Friday night, according to officials with the Memphis Police Department (MPD) and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
There are five separate race events scheduled: a 5k, 10k, half-marathon, full marathon, and a kids marathon. Officials expect about 26,000 participants overall — 1,000 more than last year. Additionally, officials said the number of spectators will likely grow from the 40,000 who attended last year. There are also 4,000 volunteers signed up to help throughout the day.
MPD Deputy Chief Michael Hardy said during any event of this magnitude, public safety is the number one concern.
Lt. Coronel Keith Watson said set up for the start and finish lines will begin Friday at 10 p.m. Around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, traffic barricades will go up along the route.
Watson said these closures will likely be in effect to 5 p.m. on Saturday “until the last runner crosses the finish line.”
Watson adds that within the protected zone, there will be an area in the Downtown core where no vehicles are permitted at all during the race day. The no-vehicle area is bounded by Madison on the north, Second on the west, MLK on the south and Fourth on the east.
Steve Cox, senior vice president of communication at ALSAC, St. Jude’s fundraising arm, said this year the race routes were changed up due to feedback from the public and to better show off the community.
Key changes to the route include more time running on the riverfront and through the St. Jude campus, as well as an added stretch through Overton Park and by Crosstown Concourse.
There will be two separate starting lines and three different start times. The half and full marathon will start at 8 a.m. at B.B. King and Lt. Lee Avenue near the FedexForum. While the 5k and 10k will start an hour earlier at B.B. King and Madison near Autozone Park. The children’s marathon is slated to begin in the same spot at 1:30 p.m. All of the races will finish on Union near AutoZone Park, where a post-race celebration will take place, Cox said.
See the full list of road closures for each affected neighborhood at the bottom of the page.
More information and updates about street closures and other race day tidbits can be found here or on the Waze app, which will provide up-to-date street closure and reopening updates throughout the day on Saturday.
St. Jude
