Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon

More than 20,000 participants are expected for this year's Cleveland Marathon events on May 17-18 and they will race on a new course, featuring more of the west side.

(Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 37th annual Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon will feature a new course and a new start/finish point, race officials announced Wednesday. This year's race is scheduled for May 18.

The changes are due in part to the ongoing construction projects at FirstEnergy Stadium, which has served as the start/finish area in recent years. Race officials are currently looking at downtown venues for a new start/finish area.

Last month, race officials sought input about the course route on its website and Facebook page. Runner input favors dropping much of the east side of the course in favor of more on the west side of downtown.

“Another aspect of the course that was up for consideration was dropping the east side and keeping all three Sunday courses (10K, half marathon and full marathon) on the west side of the city,” race director Ralph Staph said in a release. “Survey respondents overwhelmingly supported this idea and it will go into effect for this year’s course.”

Race officials are working with several cities on the west side for course options, which will be announced as soon as the new course is finalized.

The Cleveland Marathon is one of the 50 oldest races in the country. Last year's event drew 20,134 competitors for all the races, which include the marathon, half marathon, 10K, walking divisions and a kids' run. The half marathon sold out in advance for the third straight year in 2013.

Registration for the event is available now on the website at, clevelandmarathon.com/Registration.