Knoxville — You can watch full coverage of the marathon on WBIR Sunday morning from 6 a.m. until 11 a.m. on WBIR. More details and stories here.
Drivers should expect road and lane closures because of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon this weekend.
The marathon is set for Sunday, but there's also a kids run and 5K set for Saturday. In addition, TDOT plans to once again have road closures on I-40 between I-640 and West Hills that will cause travel problems.
Road closure information
The marathon will start at 7:30 a.m. and all roads should be reopened by 2:30 p.m.
- Clinch Ave. bridge between Henley and 11th St. will be closed starting Saturday at 2:00 p.m. until Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
- World's Fair Park Dr. through World's Fair Park will be closed beginning Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and will remain closed until 2:30 p.m. Sunday
- Clinch Ave. between 11th St. and 16th St. - we will begin towing cars Sunday morning at 4:00 a.m. Clinch Ave. will close for the start of the race at 7:30 a.m. and should reopen by 8:00 a.m.
- Lake Loudoun Blvd. between Cumberland Ave. and Joe Johnson will be closed Sunday between 7:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m
- Neyland Drive between Kingston Pike and Lake Loudoun will be closed between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning
- 11th St. between Western Ave. and Cumberland Ave. will be closed between 7:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday
- Central St. between Summit Hill and Cumberland will be closed between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Sunday
- Island Home Ave. between South Haven and Sevier Ave. will be closed between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday
- Northbound Gay St. between Blount Ave. and Summit Hill Ave. will be closed between 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday (southbound and cross traffic will still be allowed on Gay St. - the closure will include the northbound lanes of Gay St. bridge
- Traffic on Kingston Pike between Cherokee Blvd. and Neyland Drive will be reduced to 1 east and 1 west bound lane between 5:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
All other roads will remain open. Motorists should expect some delays with lane closures and traffic may be held temporarily at some intersections as runners cross the intersections. Major intersections motorists should avoid or plan for delays include:
- 17th St. @ Highland Ave.
- Cumberland @ 11th St.
- Kingston Pike @ Noelton
- Henley St. @ Clinch Ave.
On Saturday, the Covenant Kids Run will start on Clinch Ave. at World's Fair park for a one-mile run that will include 11th Street and cross Cumberland Avenue to Estabrook. It will end in Neyland Stadium.
The 5K, starting at 7 p.m., will have the same start and finish on Saturday, but will wind through downtown Knoxville and on the University of Tennessee Campus.
The marathon and half marathon will start near World's Fair Park at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, wind through UT's campus, down Kingston Pike to Sequoyah Hills, then back towards Fort Sanders. From there, runners will go through downtown and parts of East Knoxville, then cross into South Knoxville, spend some time on that side of the river, then cross back over the Gay Street Bridge into downtown, back onto UT's campus and finish in Neyland Stadium. Here's a turn-by-turn description of the marathon's course, and here's the course map.
Roads will not be closed completely for the entire duration of the marathon, but police officers will be monitoring the runners' progress and will shut down lanes and roads as needed to keep them safe.