The Hartford Marathon Foundation’s NU Marathon and Half Marathon will be held on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014.

By Ronni Newton

NU Half Marathon Course

The NU Marathon and Half Marathon kick off in Hartford’s Bushnell Park at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, and even if you are not joining the approximately 17,000 runners who will be pounding the pavement for as many as 26.2 miles, you may still be impacted by the race.

Residents need to be aware that several major roads in town will be closed temporarily on Saturday morning because appoximately six of the half marathon race’s 13.1 miles wend through West Hartford, and there will be nearly 7,000 half marathon runners on the route. Click here for a complete PDF map of the half marathon course.

West Hartford road closures will begin at 7:30 a.m., and roads will open and close on a staggered basis as the race proceeds through town. Impacted streets include Park Road, Whiting Lane, South Quaker Lane, South Highland, Boulevard, North Quaker Lane, Fern Street, Troutbrook Drive (Northbound lanes), Albany Avenue between Steele Road and Troutbrook (Eastbound lanes), Steele Road, and the interior of Elizabeth Park. All road in West Hartford should re-open to traffic by 10:30 a.m.

A complete map of road closures impacted by the half marathon can be found here.

Runners love the support of cheering spectators, and several ideal spots to watch the race can be found within West Hartford. The half marathon’s official “cheer zone” is at mile 8.5 of the race, at The Mercy Community’s St. Mary’s Home at 275 Steele Rd. There is plenty of accessible parking on area side streets.

Mile 10 (when the half marathon runners really start getting tired and need crowd support) is in Elizabeth Park, another great spot to watch and cheer.

The full marathon route will impact traffic in Hartford, East Hartford, and South Windsor. To find details about all impacted roads, you can click here.

For full details about all of the events taking place on Saturday, visit the event website.