The 14th Akron Marathon is this weekend. This year’s race features a new way to motivate runners.
Akron Children’s Hospital is sponsoring the race for the first time, and it will bring 13 patients who are struggling with – or have beaten – serious illness. Steven Marks co-founded the marathon and chairs its board of directors.
“There’s the Hero Zones from Akron Children’s Hospital where we have children’s heroes stationed throughout the course. And they’ll be cheering on runners and waving on runners and things like that.”
The route this year will start in front of the Akron Police Station on Saturday morning. It’s the same route as last year, and about 13,000 people are already signed up
Along with the full and half marathons on Saturday, there’s a Kids Fun Run and a Health and Fitness Expo on Friday.
Marks says there’s still time to sign up for the race.
“You can register at the Health and Fitness Expo at the John S. Knight Center: doors open at 11 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. Perfect conditions for Saturday. Weather looks to be probably about 60 degrees at the start. Partly cloudy and 71 degrees by noon. So it’s great weather for both runners and spectators.”
Here's a list of road closures for the Akron Marathon on Saturday.
