The Ottawa City Council announced its plans to close off certain streets in the city for the 2026 Run Starved Rock Country Marathon on May 9.

The council officially requested permission from the Illinois Department of Transportation to temporarily close southbound La Salle St. from Washington St. to Center St. and portions of various city streets on Saturday, May 9, and to close Albin Stevens Dr. on Friday, May 8.

President of Run Starved Rock Country and Mayor Robert Hasty expressed enthusiasm for the anticipated participation in this year’s marathon.

“Thank you for this, I do appreciate it,” he said. “Our numbers are over 100 people higher than it was at this time last year, which is a good indication of the race growing since I think we had 800 or 900 runners in total for the four races last year. The fact that we’re already that much over leads me to think that this should be a pretty big year that will bring a lot of people into our community.”