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50th Annual BMW Marathon Festival This Weekend

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Annual BMW Marathon Festival. | Image from Twitter

From December 10 through 12, the city of Dallas will be hosting its 50th Annual BMW Marathon Festival. The events will kick off on Friday with the Friday Night Lights Mile. This is the event’s second year that includes a two-lap Grand Prix style race around Dallas City Hall Plaza.

Saturday events will include a 10k, 5k, and kids races throughout the day. You can find a map of the Saturday events here.

Finally, Sunday will include 2-person and 5-person relays and a marathon, half marathon, and ultra-marathon (a 50k). If residents cannot attend in person, the BMW Dallas Marathon also has a virtual option where people can choose to still participate by going to their favorite running spot instead.

You can find a map of the Sunday Marathon here, while the Sunday Relay map is here.

The BMW Dallas Marathon first began with a pioneering group of Dallas runners, who had the vision to establish an annual 26.2-mile race more than 40 years ago.

In 1971, Taj Morrison, the official founding father of the marathon, took out a $25 ad in the Runner’s World magazine, which beckoned runners from all over the U.S. to come to Dallas.

On March 6, 1971, 82 runners from South Dakota, New York, California, and across Texas showed up for the first annual marathon held at Dallas’ White Rock Lake. The Dallas White Rock Marathon would gain a notable reputation in the next following years as a race “for runners by runners.”

Participation grew as hundreds and eventually, thousands of people from all over the nation began to flock to Dallas to run the marathon.

In 2016 and 2017, Olympians Desi Linden, Shalane Flanagan, and Meb Keflezighi joined the BMW Marathon race. In 2019, the Dallas White Rock Marathon was officially rebranded to runDallas to serve as its overall brand.

Bus route detours will be in effect all weekend. Detours will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, which will only affect bus route 26. On Saturday, detours will begin at 7 a.m. and will include routes 2, 11, 12, 19, 21, 26, 29, 35, 52, 59, 60, 76, 81, 82, 110, 111, 164, and 749. On Sunday, detours will begin at 9 a.m. and will affect bus routes 2, 11, 12, 19, 21, 26, 29, 35, 52, 59, 60, 76, 81/82, 110, 111, 164, and 749.

All route detours will continue through the end of the races. For more information on Friday and Saturday detours, click here. For more information on Sunday detours, click here.

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