20,000 people expected to be downtown to watch marathon on Sunday

An aerial image of Walterdale Bridge and downtown Edmonton north of the North Saskatchewan River on Sept. 16, 2024. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton)

The 2025 Servus Edmonton Marathon has a record number of registered racers and is expected to draw a sizable crowd to downtown on Sunday.

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With 8,500 runners, the 34th event will be about 30 per cent bigger than 2024’s.

It will also be “faster,” as organizers put it, as the event is hosting Athletics Canada’s Canadian Half Marathon Championships in addition to its five race distances.

With an estimated 20,000 spectators expected to cheer loved ones in the downtown core, plus live entertainment, event spokesperson Brian Torrance called the marathon “more than a race.”

“It’s a representation of our community and where the city comes together to support one another,” he said at a kick-off press event on Thursday.

Among the runners will be friends of 30 years Debra Kasowski and Larry Adams.

Adams, turning 87 at the end of the month, has cerebral palsy. The two have often joked about Kasowski pushing him in his wheelchair.

“This year I was talking about it and my son said, ‘So what are you waiting for?’ So I called (Adams) up, and he said, ‘Yeah, sure, whatever you want,’” she recalled.

“My dad taught me… When a pretty girl comes up to you, all you need is two words: Yes, dear,” Adams joked.

But the born-and-raised Edmontonian, who was once told he’d only live to 25, added: “I’m proud to say I’m an Edmontonian. I’m glad to see things like this where the community gets together and does good for so many so easily.”

As of Thursday, the event had raised more than $72,000 for local charities.

The race starts and ends at Edmonton Convention Centre on Jasper Avenue, which will be totally closed between 95 Street and 124 Street on race day.

Downtown traffic will be impacted between 6:45 a.m. and 4 p.m.

More information about road closures and the race route is available online.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Klippenstein