Some City streets will be closed to motor vehicles this weekend for Knoxville Marathon events on Saturday, Oct. 2, and Sunday, Oct. 3.
The World’s Fair Park will serve as the main staging area for Knoxville Marathon activities, including the Kids Run and 5K on Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m. and the marathon, half marathon and relay events on Sunday beginning at 7:30 a.m. These roads will be closed for the duration, between 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3:
•
Clinch Avenue between Henley Street and World’s Fair Park Drive
•
World’s Fair Park Drive between Clinch and Grand avenues
Knoxville Police will enforce temporary rolling closures along the route, protecting race participants and bystanders, as well as allowing traffic to cross the race route during breaks between runners.
The route begins on World’s Fair Park, proceeds to University of Tennessee campus via Phillip Fulmer Way and Neyland Drive, down Kingston Pike to Cherokee Boulevard through Sequoyah Hills and back to Kingston Pike, across Forest Park Boulevard to Newcom Avenue and onto the Third Creek Greenway, east to Tyson Park and through Fort Sanders via 22nd Street and Forest Avenue.
The second half of the marathon route leaves World’s Fair Park via W. Summit Hill Drive to N. Gay Street, through Fourth & Gill, across Hall of Fame Drive to E. Fifth, loops through Parkridge and across Magnolia Avenue at N. Bertrand Street to McCalla Avenue and back toward the Old City via Willow Avenue and into downtown via S. Central Street. The marathon’s last six miles take runners over Hill Avenue from Gay Street to James White Parkway across the river to Sevier Avenue, loop through the Island Home neighborhood and back to Sevier, returning to the World’s Fair Park via Gay Street, Market Square and Clinch Avenue.
Only about a third of the marathon’s usual participants are expected to hit the streets this year; many have registered for the virtual marathon. The Knoxville Marathon was rescheduled from March 2021 to October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A turn-by-turn course description and route map are available at
KnoxvilleMarathon.com/marathon/.