2025 BellevilleMain Street Marathon & Half Marathon 

Saturday, September 27

Course

The full and half marathons will begin and end on Main Street around First Street in historic downtown Belleville, IL. The full marathon course will be certified and is a Boston Marathon-qualifying course. The FULL  MARATHON will be on about 16 miles of city streets, including America's longest Main Street, and about 10 miles on the St. Clair County Transit District's paved biking/walking trail. The HALF MARATHON will be on city streets, including America's longest Main Street. The courses are on open roads and open trails. Course support ends at 1:30 PM for the FULL MARATHON and 10:30 AM for the HALF MARATHON. In addition, full marathon participants must be at mile 13 by 10 AM or they will be transported by an official race vehicle to another point on the course and allowed to cross the finish line with an unofficial time and to receive a finisher medal. Half marathon participants must by at mile 6.5 by 8:50 AM and complete the course by 10:30 AM to receive an official race time. If runners of either race are on the course after volunteers have been dismissed, those runners must move to the sidewalks.

MILE MARKERS AND COURSE MARKERS: To help direct full marathoners, green arrows will be placed on the road/trail. To direct half marathoners, yellow arrows will be placed on the road. Mile markers for both the full and half marathons will have the same appearance (white, positioned horizontally) until the half marathon turnaround on 95th Street. Starting at mile 6.5 on 95th Street, half marathon mile markers will say “Half Marathon,” will have a yellow background, and will be positioned vertically versus horizontally. After mile 6.5, all white mile marker signs that are positioned horizontally are for the full marathon and will be marked accordingly. A yellow feather flag on 95th Street will mark the half marathon turnaround.

Packet Pickup

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 (note: there are 2 options at different times of the day)

10 AM to 5:00 PM Toolen’s Running Start, 3260 Green Mount Crossing Drive, Shiloh, IL 62269.

6:00 to 8:00 PM in the front courtyard of Bennie's Pizza Pub, 113 E. Main Street, Belleville, IL 62220.

RACE DAY 

5:30 to 6:30 AM Saturday, September 27, in the plaza area off Main Street at 19 Public Square.

Course Hydration/Gu

Water stations that also will provide lemon lime flavored Gatorade will be located about every 2 miles on the course. Gu will be available at several locations (approximately mile 10 for the half marathon and approximately miles 11.5, 18, and 23 for the full marathon).

Restrooms

Porta-potties/restrooms will be located at the start/finish line area and near all water stations on the course.

Results/Finisher Medals/Awards

All race finishers will receive a medal at the finish line. Race results will be published live with on-course timing splits. Race results can be viewed on your phone or at on-site kiosks at the Results Tent near the finish line. All participants will receive text notifications at all on-course splits and their finish time immediately upon crossing the timing mats. At the conclusion of the race, all finishers will receive an email of their official race results and a link to the results on Athlinks. All 2025 and past race results can be found on Athlinks Results. After crossing the finish line, visit the kiosks at the Results Tent to look up your race results to see if you placed in your age group. Awards will be given to the top 3 overall male and female finishers, overall male and female Master’s finishers, and male and female wheelchair finishers and to the top 3 finishers in each of the male and female age group categories.  In place of an official awards ceremony, awards will be distributed on an ongoing basis at the Results Tent near the finish line.

Post-Race Refreshments

Post-race refreshments include pizza from Belleville's Bennie's Pizza Pub (pepperoni, cheese, and vegan) and apples from Belleville's Eckert's Orchard; a blonde ale* flavored with salt and lime specially packaged as Salty Stride to commemorate the event  (*for those ages 21 and older) from Belleville's Shoehorn Brewing; and other snacks. The commemorative Salty Stride will be available to purchase in 4-packs of 12 oz cans for $10 at the brewery (225 E. Main St.) for those ages 21 and older starting a few days before the race and continuing post-race while supplies last.

Parking

Free parking is available at numerous city owned parking lots indicated below or curbside where allowed, including the following (please do not park in business lots as many businesses are open Saturday):

• FREE parking garage at 1 Lincoln Street, which is a short walk to the start/finish line (RECOMMENDED). The garage will be monitored by county officials.
• Lot at corner of North High Street and East A Street (behind Lincoln Theatre)
• Lot at South Jackson and East Washington (behind Copper Fire)
• Lot at corner of North 3rd Street and West Main (across from Governor French school)

Race-Day Taping and Stretching

ApexNetwork Physical Therapy staff will provide taping before the race from 6 to 6:45 AM near the start/finish line and stretching after the race.

Maps for Runner and Spectators
Here are links to maps for the full and half marathon to get a better of view of the course and to share with family and friends who are planning to cheer you on. Both races begin at 7 AM.

Full Marathon: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/5014871230

Half Marathon: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/5210526790

Recommended Viewing Locations for Spectators
Half Marathon and First Half of the Full Marathon

• Catch both the half and full marathoners on their way out (at about mile 3) and on their way back (at about mile 11 for the full marathoners and at about mile or 10 for the half marathoners) at Geo's Wings & More  (4307 West Main Street, Belleville, IL).
• Catch both the half and full marathoners on their way out (at about mile 4) and on their way back (at about mile 10 for the full marathoners and at about mile 9 for the half marathoners) at Althoff Catholic High School (5401 West Main Street, Belleville, IL)

Second Half of the Full Marathon

• Catch the full marathoners on their way out (at about mile 15) and on their way back (at about mile 25) at North End Park (1099 North Douglas Avenue, Belleville, 62220).  If you plan to catch your runner on their way back, be advised that this is very close to the end so you may have trouble making it back to see them at the finish line.
• Catch the full marathoners on their way out and way back at the MetroLink College Station at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) (2622 Carlyle Avenue, Belleville, IL 62221) or near the marathon turnaround at the Belleville East YMCA (2627 Carlyle Avenue, Belleville, IL 62221) (these are in the mile 20 to 21 range).

Race-Day Photos

RACE DAY PHOTOS: Rutster Photography will be capturing professional race-day photographs, which will be available to download for FREE at the company's Belleville Main Street Marathon gallery (click here).

Post-Race Locker Rooms/Showers

The YMCA at 200 S. Illinois St., which is a few blocks from the finish line, offers runners use of its showers and locker rooms. To take advantage of this offer, you will need a state ID and to complete a waiver that will be available at packet pickup.

The Streaker Award

Participants who ran EACH of the 7 past in-person Belleville Main Street Marathons (2016-2019, 2021-2023) will be recognized with our commemorative Streaker Award. Please ask for your award at packet pickup.

Event Medical Support

BJC HealthCare Memorial Hospital staff and other medical officials will be prepared to treat injuries that may occur during this event, including a medical tent and personnel at the start/finish line area and medical staff on the course.

FOR MORE INFO: For specific questions, e-mail info@bellevillemarathon.com or contact Toolen’s Running Start at 618-628-9898 or www.runningstartsports.com.