Grand Rapids Marathon brings thousands of runners and West Side street closures Sunday

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The 23rd University of Michigan Health-West Grand Rapids Marathon fills West Side and downtown streets Sunday, Oct. 18. The main race starts at 8 a.m. on Winter Avenue south of the David D. Hunting YMCA, with an optional early start at 7 a.m., according to a letter race director Don Kern sent to neighbors along the course.

The day also includes the Foster Swift Half Marathon, the Pepsi Zero Sugar Marathon Relay and the 57th Run Thru The Rapids 5K and 10K, the race’s website says. WGRD reported that 4,500 to 5,000 runners are expected.

From the start, runners head south on Winter to Fulton Street, west to Seward Avenue, north to Leonard Street, east to Broadway and south to Sixth Street. They cross the Sixth Street Bridge, run south on Monroe Avenue through downtown, come back west on Fulton and turn south on Winter, which becomes Watson and then Front. At Wealthy Street they head west about a half-mile to Butterworth Park, the former Butterworth Landfill. From there, most of the course follows paved trails, Kern wrote.

The biggest packs should come through between the 8 a.m. start and about 9 a.m., when most runners will have passed Fulton and Winter, according to the letter.

The race’s closure schedule for Sunday lists Leonard Street between Seward and Broadway from 7 to 8:30 a.m.; Broadway between Leonard and Sixth, and Sixth Street between Broadway and Monroe, from 7 to 8:45 a.m.; Monroe Avenue between Sixth and Fulton from 7:30 to 9 a.m.; and Fulton Street between Monroe and Seward, and Seward between Lake Michigan Drive and Leonard, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Butterworth Street between the Coke Plant trailhead and Maynard closes from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

The longest closures run into the afternoon. Winter Street between Lake Michigan Drive and Watson closes from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Watson between Winter and Front, Front Avenue between Watson and Wealthy, and Wealthy Street between Front and Garfield close from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Runners pick up packets at the expo on the third floor of the David D. Hunting YMCA, 475 Lake Michigan Drive NW, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, or from 6 a.m. until race time Sunday. The race says the YMCA lot requires a membership card and points drivers to the Dash 9 lot west of the Y, reached from Seward Avenue.

Kern asked residents to watch for runners on the course, or to come out and cheer.

Sources:
Don Kern, Grand Rapids Marathon, “Community Letter 2026” and street closing times, October 2026, https://www.grandrapidsmarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Community-Letter-2026.pdf
Grand Rapids Marathon, home page, accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.grandrapidsmarathon.com/
Grand Rapids Marathon, “Packet Pickup & Expo,” accessed Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.grandrapidsmarathon.com/events-section/packet-pickup-expo/
Andy Rent, “5,000 Runners Expected At Grand Rapids Marathon,” WGRD, Oct. 9, 2026, https://wgrd.com/ixp/45/p/grand-rapids-marathon-october-2026/
Photo: powerbooktrance, “Grand Rapids Marathon 2006 002.jpg,” 2006, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Rapids_Marathon_2006_002.jpg

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Tags: Grand Rapids · Sports · Grand Rapids Marathon · Running · Road Closures · West Side