The Oakland Running Festival is this weekend

On the Saturday, March 26th the Oakland Running Festival will feature the Oakland Tribune 5K at 6:30 AM

On Sunday, March 27th the Oakland Running Festival will feature the Marathon and 4-Person Relay at 7:30 AM; Half Marathon at 9:00 AM; and Kids Fun Run at 8:30 AM

All runners will enter the Prescott neighborhood from 7th Street, turning right at Mandela Parkway and continue until turning right at 32nd street.

Drivers should use caution.

Be advised there will be street and freeway ramp closures for the full and half marathon routes on Sunday, March 27th beginning early 7:00 AM through 2:00 PM.

Streets will reopen after participants move through the neighborhoods.

For the festival weekend schedule, click here

For the Runner's Handbook, click here

Remember to plan ahead and check the complete detour schedule and map.

Our Neighborhood Detours:

If you are located on the West side (Prescott Neighborhood) of Mandela Parkway, your detour for the Marathon (miles 19, 20, 21) and Half Marathon (miles 6 + 7) is:

Oakland Run Festival is suggesting that starting at 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM, you take Wood Street north, then a right on 34th Street, stay on 34th and cross San Pablo, left on Martin Luther King, Jr Way, take sharp right at 47th Street onto Highway 24 westbound toward I-580 or I-980.

After 1:30 PM: Runners will have cleared area; streets will be reopened to normal traffic.

Note: I have my own suggestion for getting around. If anyone is attempting to access any of the freeways, whether it is I-80, I-580, I-880, I-980, Highway13 or Highway 24 (an often overlooked amenity in the Prescott) living in the epicenter of the bay, they still can.

If you can make your way to West Grand and Campbell, turn west on West Grand and at the first light (frontage road) you make a right, it will take you to I-580 Berkeley, Richmond; a left will take you to the I-880 (7th street ) freeway on-ramp.

At Frontage Road and West Grand, you continue west (towards SF) after the next light, you will have the option of either I-80 San Francisco (left lane) or I-580 Downtown Oakland, Haywood (right lane). From I-580 you can access I-980 (Downtown), Highway 24 (Concord/Walnut Creek) or Highway 13 (Monclair).

If you discover or know of another way, drop me a note at marcus_a_johnson [AT] yahoo.com

If you are located on the Eastside of Mandela Parkway, your detour for the Marathon (miles 19, 20, 21) and Half Marathon (miles 6 + 7), are:

Oakland Run Festival is advising from 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM the northbound Mandela Parkway (toward Emeryville) will be closed to traffic. They are suggesting to get to West Grand you should take a right on Brush to I-980.

You can either continue straight onto I-980 westbound toward I 880 southbound (on-ramp entrance at 16th Street) or take a left on 17th Street, then a left on Castro to I-980 eastbound toward Highway 24 and I-580.

After 1:30 PM: Runners will have cleared the area and streets will be reopened to normal traffic.

Oakland Run Festival (March 27th-28th 2010)

Oakland Running Festival

If you are not participate as a runner or volunteer, grab your lawn chair and watch the Oakland Running Festival marathon and half marathon route which will enter the Prescott-Oakland Point neighborhood, after the 18th mile mark at 7th and Mandela Parkway, where runners make a right onto Market Street and enter West Oakland. Once again you pass a BART station with Mandela Transit Village, a mixed retail and residential development bordering the West Oakland BART station. This was one of the earliest neighborhoods in Oakland to be settled and in1869, West Oakland became the terminus of the transcontinental railroad.

Many of the homes in this area date back to the mid-1800’s and were built in the Victorian style, giving it its quaint look. It should be noted that African Americans have historically played an important role in Oakland and especially West Oakland. In the early 1900’s because of the importance of railroads, many porters lived here and the headquarters of their union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, was located in this neighborhood. Then in the 1930s, Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association had its West Coast headquarters at 8th and Chester Streets. During the 1960’s, during the social turmoil of the time, the “Black Panthers” originated in this area. After years of decline, this neighborhood too has started to experience renewal, as new residential developments have sprung up and many of the Victorian homes have been remodeled to their former glory.

As you run along the Mandela Parkway, mile 19, some may recall that this was the site of the Cypress Freeway collapse, an elevated, double deck freeway that collapsed onto itself during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Several people were killed despite heroic rescue efforts by West Oakland residents. The freeway was replaced by Mandela Parkway, a wide thoroughfare with a pedestrian path and greenway in its median, including a park commemorating the 1989 earthquake. It is lined with condominiums and new and established businesses.

The Oakland Running Festival website contains all the information you will need including volunteering.

Check out these videos of the course: Marathon Course and Half Marathon Course.

There is an interactive map that features the marathon, half-marathon, 5K routes and sponsoring restaurants.

The Oakland Running Festival Handbook can be found here