Marathon to bring road closures

I suspect by the time this is over, there will be a lot of drivers that will be loco too.

“We’ve made every effort to make sure the runners are safe by coning off several roadways and closing several other ones,” Lenoir City Police Capt. David Flynn said. “We’re going to have numerous officers during the day and numerous signs out warning of the road closures on that day.”

Among the roads that will be closed at least a portion of the day for the race are Highway 11 northbound, Shaw Ferry Road from Creekwood Park Boulevard to Town Creek Road East, Adesa Parkway northbound, Hotchkiss Valley Road and a crossing from Adesa Parkway to Creekwood Park Boulevard on U.S. Highway 321.

“We’ve been working with Lenoir City, the city of Loudon and Loudon County police departments really the whole time we’ve been planning the event,” Michele Lewis, LCEF executive director, said. “So there will be a heavy police force all over the course. There will also be safety vehicles like EMTs, ambulances. Fort Loudoun Medical will have three different medical tents set up. Then our volunteers, once we’ve got everything placed as to where police officers will be and where barricades will be and such, we’ll probably have about 50 volunteers on the course that will be helping to direct traffic.”

The closure of Highway 11 from Loudon to Lenoir City poses one of the greatest obstacles. Cones will be set up along the highway beginning at about 7 a.m. and runners will start at 8 a.m.

As runners progress, the road will open behind them, but the full length of the highway is unlikely to be open until around 10 a.m., Lewis said.

“That’s probably going to be the most challenging part and the least convenient for people who are trying to move around,” she said. “... You can use the interstate. There’s ways around. If you’re coming from Loudon and you want to go toward Lenoir City then the interstate’s the best way around, but if you’re on Sugarlimb you can get down that way, too.”

Other challenges include the intersection of Highways 11 and 321, where runners will turn to cross the bridge and come back to Highway 11, though Lewis expects to utilize the sidewalk area for that portion of the race.

After returning to Highway 11, runners will move onto the Town Creek Greenway toward Town Creek Parkway. Marathon runners will then move onto Old Highway 95 and run down and back on Hotchkiss Valley before moving on to Adesa and crossing 321 toward the finish line at The Venue.

Half-marathon runners will take a right turn on Town Creek and cross over to Adesa heading toward The Venue without the trip on Hochkiss Valley.

“We’re trying to make sure we have alternate routes to people that are going to be affected as much as we can,” Flynn said.

Runners must finish the race by 2 p.m., with checkpoints throughout to make sure participants are on pace so roads can be reopened and cones collected. Any runners lagging behind the pace will be picked up.

There are about 150 runners signed up for the marathon or half-marathon, with about 43 of those in the marathon.

Lewis expects more to sign up, but most late additions will likely be for a 5K event that is running along Creekwood Park Boulevard and not expected to have a major impact on traffic flow.

“We’re still deep in the thick of it,” Lewis said of planning. “Rodney Grugin (LCEF board member) has probably put in easily 100 hours on this total just this year, not even counting when we started. He’s gone out and ridden the course with each of the captains of the police force and is working on the cones. … There’s a lot of time that’s gone into it.”

Most business that will be impacted by road closures have been notified, Lewis said. Plans are to go door to door and speak with homeowners as well.

“We would like for everybody to come out and support the runners,” Lewis said. “It’s a big feat to run 26.2 miles. So encouraging them and ringing cowbells and whatever they can do to get out there and encourage people who are visiting the county that it’s a great place to be and this is something we want to do for future years.

“The best experience we can this year, the more runners we’ll get every year, and the more runners that come, the more people will be spending time in Loudon County and spending money and everything else,” she added.

Celebrations are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. for the 5K, 11 a.m. for the half-marathon and 1 p.m. for the full marathon Dec. 1. A pasta dinner is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. Nov. 30 at The Venue and will benefit the Loudon County Health Improvement Council.

For more information, visit runloco.net.