The fifth annual Blue Nose International Marathon is set to break attendance records once again.
Organizers are expecting close to 8,000 people to take part in this weekend’s race, about 1,000 more people than last year and a long way from the 3,500 people who participated in the inaugural event.
The marathon has gotten progressively more popular each year. This year’s race will also see changes to the route to make things easier for the general public.
“There are, what I think, some really nice enhancements this year,” said race organizer Gerald Walsh. “It’s made it much less disruptive to residents and churches.”
Walsh describes the changes as “narrowing the oval.” Instead of heading into the centre and west end of Halifax, racers will take a new route along Young Street toward the Hydrostone area. A full map of the 42-kilometre route is available at bluenosemarathon.com.
The race has been notoriously unlucky when it comes to weather. But so far this year sun is expected for the day of the race. Walsh said marathon-goers in the past have been resilient and that almost everyone has showed up despite bad weather. But he hopes nice weather this year could further boost attendance numbers.
