WASHINGTON — On Sunday, early morning drivers in D.C. will face runners and road blocks near Rock Creek Park, the Tidal Basin and Hains Point for the Navy-Air Force Half Marathon & Navy 5 Miler.
The event begins shortly after 7 a.m. on the National Mall near 15th Street Northwest and Constitution Avenue.
Rock Creek Parkway and Memorial Bridge will be blocked through late morning. Independence Avenue and Maine Avenue will be blocked between the Memorial Bridge and 15th Street Southwest.
All roads along the race course are scheduled to reopen by 11 a.m. Organizers say they adhere to a strict timeline for the start, on-course, and finish times of the event.
The course takes runners south across the Inlet Bridge and around Hains Point. The course diverges near the Outlet Bridge in West Potomac Park, where the competitors in the 5-mile race make a break for the finish line while the half marathon runners proceed north under the Memorial Bridge and past the Kennedy Center onto the Rock Creek Parkway.
After six miles back and forth on the Rock Creek Parkway, participants will pass the Lincoln Memorial and head east along Independence Avenue across the Kutz Memorial Bridge toward the finish line near the Washington Monument.
A map of the race course is posted at the event website.
Interstate 66 and the Roosevelt Bridge will remain open, but the ramp to Independence Avenue will be closed. Interstate 395 and the ramps toward 14th and 12th streets Southwest are expected to remain open.
It was an action-packed and traffic-choked Saturday in D.C. with road closures associated with the 5-kilometer race on the freeways through Foggy Bottom, a parade on Constitution Avenue and the H Street Festival in Northeast. The Fiesta D.C. festival will block a portion of Pennsylvania Avenue near Federal Triangle during the latter half of the weekend.
