Several Austin roads will be fully and partially closed the weekend of Sept. 22-23 as runners and walkers take to the streets in the RetailMeNot Austin Marathon Relay, the Austin Pride Rainbow Run 5K and Pride Parade, and the Stop Child Trafficking Now 5K Walk.
RetailMeNot Austin Marathon Relay
The eighth annual 26.2-mile relay is run in five legs ranging in distance from about 7.4 miles to about 3.1 miles. The course will take runners around the state Capitol and along Cesar Chavez Street toward MoPac. A portion of Riverside Drive at Auditorium Shores, the start of the race, will be closed along with Cesar Chavez between Congress Avenue and MoPac. Other roads that runners are scheduled to travel include First Street and Congress. According to officials, Austin police officers will be directing traffic to reduce congestion. The marathon starts at 8 a.m and is expected to be finished by 11 a.m. The starting area is expected to be cleaned up by 1 p.m.
"When we designed the marathon relay initially ... we designed an event that would have minimum impact on downtown," said Dave Swincher, race director and president of Junior Achievement, which organizes the race.
This year, Junior Achievement has partnered with RetailMeNot, a website that compiles user-submitted coupons and discounts, for the event.
The relay is a fundraising event and benefits the nonprofit Junior Achievement, an organization that provides programs to support kindergarten through 12th-grade students in areas including entrepreneurship, money management and workforce readiness. Junior Achievement programs reach more than 10,000 Central Texas students and about 21 counties.
"(Our services) are more important now than ever," Swincher said. "There's not a lot of requirements in K-12 education to teach financial literacy skills, entrepreneurship or economics. If the kids don't understand their money or the way the economy works, they can become a victim of it."
On average, the nonprofit raises about $100,000 from the relay, and officials said they expect a similar turnout this year.
For more information on the race, visit www.austinmarathonrelay.com.
Austin Pride Rainbow Run 5K and Pride Parade
The pride parade and 5K is scheduled to take place Sept. 22 with roads partially and fully closed along with officer-controlled intersections. Closures for the run are from 6:30 a.m. to noon for South First Street between Riverside Drive and Cesar Chavez Street, Cesar Chavez between Guadalupe and Lavaca streets, West Fourth Street between Congress and Guadalupe and the MoPac northbound ramp to Cesar Chavez.
The run starts at 9 a.m at the intersection of Riverside and First. A festival will follow the run from 11 a.m-6 p.m at Fiesta Gardens, 2101 Jesse E. Segovia St.
For the parade, San Jacinto Boulevard and 11th street between San Jacinto Boulevard and Congress will close at 3 p.m., and Congress, Fourth Street and San Antonio Street will be closed from 6:30 p.m.-midnight.
Austin Pride is a celebration to raise funds for various nonprofits and charitable organizations available to the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender community.
For more information, visit www.austinpride.org
Stop Child Trafficking Now 5K Walk
The Stop Child Trafficking Now 5K Walk on Sept. 22 won't have any road closures, but Austin Police Department officers will escort participants along the route. The walk starts at Triangle Park on West 46th Street and includes Sunshine Drive, West 49th Street, Burnet Road, West 51st Street, Woodrow Avenue, West North Loop Boulevard, Guadalupe Street and West 45th Street.
The walk starts at 9 a.m. and ends at noon.
For more information, visit www.sctnow.org.
