GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Drivers heading downtown or across the Grand River on Sunday morning should plan detours, because the Grand Rapids Police Department has laid out a rolling set of street closures for the Grand Rapids Marathon on Oct. 18.
This year marks the 23rd running of the race. Barricades go up at 7 a.m., and most streets reopen in stages through the morning as runners clear each stretch.
The longest closures, lasting until 2 p.m., cover Winter Street from Lake Michigan Drive to Watson and Fulton Street from Mt. Vernon to Seward. A second long block starts half an hour later and also runs into the early afternoon, taking in Watson from Winter over to Front, the Front Avenue stretch down to Wealthy, and Wealthy itself out to Garfield.
Shorter early windows apply on the near north side. Leonard Street between Seward and Broadway reopens around 8:30 a.m., Broadway Avenue and Sixth Street around 8:45 a.m., and Seward Avenue, Monroe Avenue and the Monroe-to-Seward piece of Fulton by 9:30 a.m. Butterworth Street near the Coke Plant trailhead is blocked for about 90 minutes starting at 8 a.m.
The route explains the map. Runners take a downtown loop over the historic Sixth Street Bridge, pass the convention center and the Amway Grand Plaza, then head west toward Millennium Park, with an out-and-back leg on Indian Mounds Road.
University of Michigan Health – West sponsors the 2026 event, which also includes a half marathon, a marathon relay and the 57th annual Run Thru The Rapids 5K and 10K. The race was founded in 2004.