One of North America’s most well-known and scenic marathons, the Big Sur International Marathon, has been forced to change its course three weeks before the April 28th race day due to a road collapse on the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
Traditionally, the marathon starts at Big Sur Station, covering 42.2 kilometres north on Highway 1 to the Crossroads in Carmel. However, a slip-out from a March 30 rainstorm damaged the southbound lane on Highway 1 near Rocky Creek Bridge, just south of Notleys Landing. As more rain fell later in the week, the situation worsened. “There’s no road,” one local source told Canadian Running.
California officials urged people in Big Sur to evacuate as a storm threatened more damage to Highway 1, one of the country’s most famous coastal roads.
Over the weekend, a chunk of the road collapsed after heavy rain. pic.twitter.com/y2mPalBfXU— AI SSN News (@Grogozak) April 4, 2024
Highway 1 has been closed to all traffic since March 31st and is only open to locals who live in the area and essential workers.
Despite the road closure, race organizers remained optimistic about holding their 37th annual marathon, now revising it to an out-and-back course from Carmel-by-the-Sea to Notleys Landing. The marathon will start and finish in Carmel-by-the-Sea, bypassing the damaged area. The other races (11-miler, 12K, and 5K) will maintain their original courses, unaffected by the damage.
Josh Priester, the race director for the Big Sur Marathon, said in a press release that the team has been working tirelessly to identify solutions and prepare for race day on April 28th. “I am extremely grateful for the commitment and dedication that I have seen from our entire community supporting us during this process. After multiple discussions, it has been determined that running the point-to-point route from Big Sur to Carmel past the slip-out location is not an option.”
Caltrans says preliminary estimate to repair road washout south of Rocky Creek bridge could top $28million, priority right now to stabilize cliff under roadway and get traffic signal in place to allow 24 hour traffic in and out of Big Sur. We’re live @ksbw at 5&6.. pic.twitter.com/c1M5xkq7wP
— Felix Cortez (@FelixKSBW) April 11, 2024
This is not the first time the race has had to deal with a reroute. In 1998 and 2011, the Big Sur International Marathon was also rerouted to an out-and-back format due to a landslide on Highway 1. Each year, the race attracts about 4,500 participants from around the world
