18th Annual Combos® Marathon and Half Marathon returns first weekend in March now seeking volunteers
ALBANY, Ga. – The end of February means the return of the Albany Marathon. And, the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau spoke with us about some of the preparations and needs ahead of the start.
Marathon organizer, Rashelle Minix says that in the marathon’s 18th year, they’re expecting major turnout on Front Street at the starting line.
“Right now we’re looking at having upwards of 800 to 900 runners coming into town for both the half marathon and the full…” said Rashelle Minix, Albany Marathon, organizer.
As runners make their way through the Good Life City, organizers are making sure that lanes are properly set up to avoid any accidents with weekend traffic.
“We will have partial lane closures for roads that are four lanes. We’ll have a single lane closed for the runners. And, then for two lane roads, we’ll do partial lane closures. So, we won’t have any roads that are really closed off to the public, other than Front Street…” said Minix.
In addition, to getting the roads set up, Minix tells us they’re always looking for additional volunteers to help on the path of the marathon to curb traffic along the route.
“The one thing that we always need are road marshals. Those are people who are positioned at the different intersections to make sure they’re holding back cars and letting runners pass. Then, letting the cars know when they can move forward. But, we also use them as the ones who are telling the runners which way to go,” said Minix.
And, with just over a week before the runners line up at the starting line, the convention and visitor’s bureau is excited as usual for a major city tradition.
“…Having our locals come out, do cheering sections. If they’re on the race route, we encourage them. It is very much family-friendly. So, we want to make sure that the kids are out there cheering them on. The only thing we ask is you don’t get in the road with the runners,” said Minix.
While the Visitors Bureau already has plenty of volunteers, they want anyone else interested to sign up to help keep the nearly one thousand runners safe.
The Albany Marathon will take place on Saturday, March 2nd.
For more about volunteering, you can visit the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau Marathon page here.
Brian Roche reporting.
Copyright 2024 CBS 44 South Georgia. All rights reserved.
