Savannah Southern Half Marathon to kick off Saturday morning, impact traffic

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The inaugural Savannah Southern Half Marathon kicks off Saturday, with events starting as early as 7 a.m.

The course will take runners through the heart of Downtown Savannah, including popular neighborhoods. But in order for the race to take place, some roads will have to be closed for periods at a time.

The half marathon starts at Forsyth Park and ends inside Daffin Park. Organizers are warning downtown residents and travelers to prepare now for traffic delays and plan alternate routes.

READ MORE: Traffic details for inaugural Savannah Southern Half Marathon

Event organizers have been working with City of Savannah leaders and the Savannah Police Department to make sure there are rolling road closures rather than complete street shutdowns. On the race’s website, it also says SPD will allow traffic through intersections when possible.

Savannah residents have had problems in the past with long races, especially marathons. Barriers have blocked their cars in, and road closures have kept them from getting where they need to go.

Mayor Van Johnson recently mentioned that the City of Savannah is not a full marathon city.

Visit Savannah leaders agree, saying there was a time when marathons like the Rock & Roll Marathon and Every Woman’s Marathon were the right races for Savannah, but that’s not the case this year.

“Today, the way our city has grown, with all of the new developments happening around, we believe that a half marathon or a 5K is really the ideal product, especially if we can find the right weekend in the year to do it,” said Joseph Marinelli, the President and CEO of Visit Savannah.

Marinelli hopes locals will stop by and check out the race, even if they’re not participating or directly know someone who is. He says it a great way to get outdoors and show visitors Savannah’s Hostess City spirit.

Visit Savannah leaders say approximately 8,000 to 10,000 people are expected to flock to the City for Saturday’s event, with about half actually competing in the race.

Around 60% of participants are coming from out of town. The remaining 40% are local to the Savannah-Chatham County area.

The historic district’s scenery isn’t the only draw for avid runners. Savannah is simply an easy city to run and walk in, with its grid-based urban design, shaded spots to run through and plenty of business to explore along the route.

November is typically a slow time for Savannah’s tourism industry. Visit Savannah leaders are expecting this event to give the industry a big boost as visitors stop by restaurants, hotels, grocery stores and even gas stations.

“This is a nice injection of activity throughout the community. Folks don’t just stay in the historic district. They stay all around. They stay on Tybee, so there’ll be an impact throughout the community,” said Marinelli.

Most road closures for the half marathon are set to begin at 6:45 a.m. However, some street will close as early as 3 a.m. Around 11:30 a.m. is when traffic is expected to return to normal.