Blue Nose Marathon to takes to Halifax streets this weekend

Thousands of runners are expected to descend upon the peninsula this weekend for the 13th annual ScotiaBank Blue Nose Marathon.

Halifax spokesperson Brendan Elliot told NEWS 95.7, they’re encouraging people to come out and cheer on participants, but warns with the Macdonald Bridge closed for the Big Lift project, area roads will be tied up more than usual this year.

“If you’re trying to go downtown, try to go toward the harbour, that would be better than the higher part closer to the Citadel because that’s where all the action is,” he explained.

“All the streets up there will have either barricades or specific street closures, going down toward the harbour, you’ll be a little bit further away from the runners and fans on the sides of the streets.”

He expects it to be extremely busy in the downtown core on both Saturday and Sunday.

“On Saturday alone, just for the youth run we’re expecting 3,500 participants, and later in the day is the 5 km, and we’re expected 2,500 participants for that.”

Elliot said 2,500 are expected at Sunday’s half marathon, and 3,300 have registered for the 10 km, which starts off just after 8 a.m.

Accredited volunteers and participants can take the bus for free on Saturday and Sunday, that perk doesn’t apply to MetroLink, Metro X, or Access-a-bus, however street closures will cause many routes to be detoured, full details can be found on their website.

Cycling to the event is an option, and for a third year in a row, Clean Foundation will offer free bike storage at Grand Parade on Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Elliot says to also expect parking restrictions on many city streets.

“We will have very clear markings of where you can park and where you can’t,” he said. “There will be those hoods that go over the meters where you will not be allowed to park, it will be very obvious.”

He added, those violating the no parking signs could be causing a safety hazard to marathoners.

Streets closed to vehicle traffic and parking include:

-Brunswick Street between Cogswell and Sackville will be closed from 8 a.m. to 6 pm. Saturday and from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday;
-Sackville Street between Brunswick Street and South Park Street will be closed 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, and from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday;
-Carmichael Street between Grafton to Brunswick will be closed 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday;
-Market Street between Carmichael and Prince will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday;
-Prince Street westbound between Grafton and Brunswick will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday;
-Cogswell Street inbound between Robie and the Cogswell Street Roundabout, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday;
-Cogswell Street between Gottingen and Brunswick will be closed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Sunday.

Several other streets will have rolling closures where police will only allow traffic to pass through when race participants are not present.

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