Tar Heel 10 Miler To Shut Down Roads In Chapel Hill

With an estimated 7,000 runners participating in the Tar Heel 10 Miler on Saturday, April 23, a number of roads across the town will be shut down.

Police officers will be posted to guide people to their destination safely.

The closures will be:

Raleigh Road 6-10 a.m.

Franklin Street 7:15-9 a.m.

Franklin St. will be closed between Estes Dr. and Merritt Mill Rd. Only local through traffic will be allowed for residents living between Estes Drive and Park Place.

Historic Rosemary 7:30-8:15 a.m.

The following roads will be closed within the Historic Rosemary neighborhood. Should you wish to exit, please do so by 7:30 a.m.

• Hillsborough Street from Franklin to North streets
• North Street from Hillsborough to Boundary streets
• Boundary Street from North to Franklin streets
• East Rosemary Street from Hillsborough to Boundary streets

Battle Park 7:30-8:45 a.m.

Gimghoul Road 7:30-9:30 a.m.

Greenwood Road 8:15-9:20 a.m.

Laurel Hill 8:30-10 a.m.

All other roads along the course will be closed and then reopened on a rolling basis as the runners pass by the various areas on the course.

Police and course monitors will be positioned at each intersection on the course. Vehicles will not be allowed on the course once that section of roadway has been closed.

The roadways will clear and normal traffic is expected to resume by 10 a.m.

http://chapelboro.com/news/traffic/tar-heel-10-miler-to-shut-down-roads-in-chapel-hill

Tar Heel 10 Miler Expected to Draw Thousands

If you plan to participate this year in the Tar Heel 10 Miler and Fleet Feet Sports 4-Mile Run on Saturday, you can head over to University Mall’s Pre-Race Expo on Friday to pick up a packet, and get information on race events.

Steve Lackey is the founder of Endurance Magazine and producer of the event, and as usual, he expects it to be big.

“We’re expecting between 6,300 and 6,500 for this year,” said Lackey. “We’ll sell out at 6,500.”

And that’s just the runners.

“We usually have about 12,000 people out there, between spectators and volunteers,” said Lackey. “And we’re lucky, because a lot of the people who produce it are locals.”

It’s the eighth year for the Tar Heel 10 Miler and Fleet Feet Sports 4-Mile Run, which takes place early Saturday morning on Stadium Drive. WCHL is one of the sponsors of the event.

Both races begin and end at the Bell Tower this year. Post-race events will still be held inside Kenan Stadium, which has been undergoing renovations, and in the Blue Zone concourse.

The 10 Miler has grown as an attraction every year since it started. These days, participants come from as many as 38 states.

“The overwhelming majority of people come from North Carolina,” said Lackey, “and we have a great representation from the Triangle.”

This year, the UnitedHealthcare Corporate Challenge joins the list of related activities.

“The idea is that we want to celebrate the wellness of the community’s companies across the Triangle,” said Lackey. “And so we have awards for the fittest company.”

Also, the fastest company.

One of the most popular related competitions is “Crash the Party.” The top three schools with the highest representation are awarded custom T-shirts.

Duke has won five years in a row.

Participating runners can pick up packets at the Pre-Race Expo at University Mall on Friday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.

And you can visit Tarheel10miler.com to donate, sign up, or register to volunteer.

Bathrooms at Kenan Stadium open at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, which is when participants are expected to start arriving.

Runners begin lining up at the South Bell Tower at 6:45 a.m.

The Four-Miler starts at 7:20, and the 10 Miler takes off at 7:30.

Traffic will be detoured throughout downtown Chapel Hill on Saturday from 6 until 10 a.m. Motorists are advised to seek alternate routes.

Click here for more information on road closings during the Tar Heel 10 Miler and Fleet Feet Sports 4-Mile Run.

http://chapelboro.com/news/news-around-town/tar-heel-10-miler-expected-to-draw-thousands

Tar Heel 10 Miler

The 6th annual Tar Heel 10 Miler took place in Chapel Hill on Saturday. Hundreds of people came out for Endurance Magazine’s North Carolina state championship 10 mile race.

 

http://chapelboro.com/photos/tar-heel-10-miler

Tar Heel 10 Miler Hosts More Than 5,000 Runners Saturday

CHAPEL HILL – A record number of runners hit the streets of Chapel Hill for the Sixth Annual Tar Heel 10 Miler early Saturday morning, and the first one to cross the finish line of the ten-mile course was Olympian Camas Kovacs.

“I (actually) feel pretty good,” Kovacs says. “It was just a test run for me. I’m (getting) back in shape and visiting North Carolina. I went to school at High Point University (and) graduated four years ago. Now I’m back on a visit. It was a good opportunity to put together the running the visit. It was a great course, too.”

Kovacs represented Hungary in the 2012 London Olympics’ marathon. He says Rio in 2016 is on his radar. He ran this year’s course in just more than 50 minutes.

The second place finisher in the 10 miler was UNC medical student Brock Baker.

“I won it last year, so I was hoping to win it again this year, but the guy who won ran a great race,” Baker says. “I ran about as fast as I did last year, so (I’m) overall pretty pleased with it.”

All week runners showed their support on Facebook and Twitter of those who were affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. Less than 12 hours before the race began in Chapel Hill, Watertown, Massachusetts police captured the second suspect in the bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after a 24-hour manhunt.

Kovacs says Saturday’s race provided a great chance to celebrate as well as remember those who were affected.

“I was happy last night for (what) the police department did in Boston, so it was kind of motivation just to show everybody that we are runners (and) we still do what we like and they cannot terrorize us with these bombings or anything,” Kovacs says.

Baker says he wasn’t worried because he feels safe in Chapel Hill, and he says it was great to see everyone able to continue on despite that tragedy.

“It is a celebration; our hearts still go out to all those people that were injured and the families of those that lost their lives,” Baker says. “It’s a sad thing, but it’s also been really neat to see the way that everybody’s sort of been able to come together around that.”

Many smiles were seen Saturday morning at Kenan Stadium when more than 5,200 runners crossed the finish line. To see pictures from the event, click here.

http://chapelboro.com/news/non-profit-news/tar-heel-10-miler-hosts-more-than-5000-runners-saturday