Columbus Marathon: New Start, but Same Finish Line for Race
October 30, 2014
The predawn scene of breath rising from runners warming up along Broad Street while music echoed off the Statehouse dome served as a staple for the start of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon for 34 years.
Change will accompany the 35th race, which begins at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, with a move of the starting line from Downtown to North Bank Park in the Arena District.
There is a method to this seeming madness: The 26.2-mile race and the half marathon also will end for the field of 18,000 at North Bank Park and eliminate the need for workers to pull up stakes and make the caravan move to Nationwide Arena, where the finish line had been since 2000.
“You really had two events in two different locations,” race director Darris Blackford said. “ The start and finish were just close enough together to be aggravating. It just didn’t make any sense. From a logistical standpoint it was difficult to manage, but it was how it always was.”
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