BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) -
The cold temperatures this weekend will create a crisp marathon morning for thousands of runners.
Mercedes Marathon events kick off Saturday and if you are planning to run, but have not registered yet, race organizers say you may be disappointed. The races are filling up!
The five person marathon relay is already closed. There was a maximum of 200 people who could run that race.
To avoid overcrowding the course this year organizers placed caps on each race. Right now, there are about 100 slots left for the half marathon and 120 slots left for the full marathon. The 5k race is filling up a little slower, there's still about six hundred slots left to fill.
This year, something else new is going on. Mercedes Marathon is doing something similar to what Boston, New York and Chicago marathons do. Social media is being incorporated so people can track runners on the course
Valerie McClean, race chairman, said,"(You can) find out where they are on the course, what time they're expected to finish. Runners sign up, get text sent to people and know when to look for them. You can actually post it to your Facebook page or tweet it to your Twitter account."
Online registration ended Tuesday night, so you will have to register on race day. Volunteers are still needed to assist people along the course.
Twelve thousand runners are expected for the marathon, the largest number in the event's eleven year history.
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