Belleville Marathon draws runners from 24 states, 2 countries. Watch for road closures

More than 600 runners have signed up for the Belleville Main Street Marathon and Half Marathon, so drivers should keep an eye out for them when they are out and about Saturday morning.

The race, which is a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon, will start at 7 a.m. on West Main Street near First Street. Runners from 24 states as well as Mexico and the United Kingdom are expected to participate.

“Residents should be aware of potential traffic delays due to traffic control and street closures on Saturday morning,” stated a new release from the marathon organizers.

Here are the closures:

• West Main Street from Illinois 159 to Third Street will be closed from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• West Main Street from Third Street to 17th Street will be closed temporarily for the start of the race (from about 7 a.m. to 7:20 a.m.)

• 95th Street from Main Street to Signal Hill Boulevard will be closed temporarily (from about 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.).

Runners for both the 26.2-mile marathon and the half marathon will share the first approximately 13 miles of the course, which begins at West Main and First Streets and spends most of its time on West Main west to Signal Hill Boulevard and back downtown.

Look for lane closures on West Main Street as runners cruise to Signal Hill Boulevard and back.

While the half marathon runners are heading back downtown to finish their race, those running the full 26 miles will hop onto Belleville’s Richland Creek Trail and St. Clair County Transit District’s Metro BikeLink Trail out past Southwestern Illinois College and the East Belleville YMCA before heading back downtown to finish on Main Street.

The first Belleville Main Street Marathon was in 2016. The nonprofit event, which is organized and conducted by the Belleville Running Club and Toolen’s Running Start in the Green Mount Crossing shopping center, donated $10,000 to the Belleville Parks and Recreation Department last year.

There are over 300 volunteers who help with the race and multiple sponsors.

“We’re super excited,” said Sarah West, one of the race directors. “We just feel so fortunate we’re in a community that really supports our event.”

The race directors encourage Belleville residents to line the marathon route and cheer on the runners.

“The runners truly appreciate crowd support, which we’ve been fortunate to see during this race,” West said.

West said the runners are looking forward to the cooler temperatures forecasted for Saturday as compared to some previous years.

The Weather Channel predicts it will be 64 degrees when the race starts with a 7% of rain. West said if it rains, the race will go on unless there is lightning.

You can still sign up for the race Friday at Toolen’s or from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at Benny’s Pizza Pub in downtown Belleville.

The marathon had 205 registrants as of Thursday while the half marathon had over 400.

For more information, go to bellevillemarathon.com.