Eau Claire Marathon is this weekend
Apr. 28—EAU CLAIRE — The Eau Claire Marathon will have about 4,000 runners taking to city streets and trails this weekend.
Seeing some of the weekend's multiple races sell out in advance bolstered race director Emi Uelmen's confidence that runners are returning to racing events after they had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic the past two years.
"I can officially say people are excited to be back," she said.
About 4,000 did also run during 2021's event, which was held in late September instead of the Eau Claire Marathon's usual early May showing. Changing the date was done to give time for COVID-19 activity to decline and for more people to get vaccinated.
The 2020 event was held "virtually" with participants running courses on their own during spring and fall and submitting evidence of their race times to organizers.
Prior to the pandemic, Uelmen said the Eau Claire Marathon had nearly 5,000 who participated in it during 2019.
Since 2020, the race has based its start and finish lines in downtown Eau Claire, departing from its previous home base of Phoenix Park.
The Eau Claire Marathon begins this Saturday with 10-kilometer and 5-kilometer races and a kids fun run happening during the afternoon into the evening.
From 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday, a race expo will be held in the farmers market pavilion in Phoenix Park when participants can pick up their packets and peruse displays from sponsors and vendors. This will also be a chance for people to sign up for the few spots remaining in the marathon, half-marathon and 10-kilometer races and kids run, Uelmen said. The 5-kilometer and marathon relay races are already sold out.
The event's signature races — the marathon, marathon team relay and half marathon — will happen Sunday morning. Covering 26.2 miles of recreational trails, bridges and roads, the courses call for some road closures, especially around downtown.
Farwell Street will remain open during the marathon, but other downtown streets will be closed Sunday morning for runners to use. Barstow Street between Galloway and Newton streets is part of the race course and will be closed for much of the morning. The same goes for the Lake Street Bridge and Graham Avenue, which are the home stretch for runners who will cross the finish line next to the Pablo Center at the Confluence.
Other streets that coincide with the race course or cross it will be closed for several hours on Sunday. That includes a large section of State Street, the Lake Street Bridge and portions of First Avenue.
And there are some road closures on quieter neighborhood streets, but those will be unavailable for less time as they're earlier in the races when runners will be grouped closely together.
Those who run this weekend may get damp from more than just sweat.
As of Thursday, the National Weather Service was predicting a 90% chance of rain on Saturday and 80% likelihood for precipitation on Sunday.
Saturday's forecast shows temperatures reaching a high of 55 degrees during the daytime, but also windy.
Sunday's temperature is expected to begin in the mid-40s and reach highs in the low 50s, but with lighter wind than Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
The races will go on — rain or shine, Uelmen said. However, if there is lightening spotted, there could be a delay in start times, she said.
News of delays or other alerts involving race events would be sent out on the free Eau Claire Marathon app, Uelmen said, advising both runners and spectators to download it on their smartphones.
