Birmingham, AL -   Right now, thousands of runners are headed to the Magic City and workers are racing to finish paving streets.  The biggest concern: will the job be done in time?

"There's been tons of runners going downtown in Birmingham, testing out the course," said Race Chairperson Valerie McLean.

As Sunday's Mercedes Marathon approaches, several of Birmingham's downtown streets still remain unpaved.

"If you're not used to it you've just got to take your time and make sure you're watching where you step," said five-time marathoner Scott Strand.

Now, workers are racing to a finish line of their own.

"I've been in talks with the city daily and was reassured that Monday more asphalt was there and they were finishing up the roads that were on the course," said McLean

Engineer Tim Mullendore says his office initially planned to finish in time for the March Davis Cup, but two weeks ago, got word they would need to speed up work.  Now, at least three streets still need work.

"We've got concerns about rain tomorrow but the rain is supposed to move out and we will have tomorrow night and Thursday if we are delayed by the weather," said Mullendore.

He says either way, the streets and manholes will have some sort of grading covering them.  He says workers have abandoned other streets this week to focus on finishing the route.

"About half of the streets will be completely finished," said Mullendore.  "And then there will be other streets that will be completed through the binder layer."

"If something happened, the beauty of downtown is that it's based on the block system," said McLean.  "So if we need to move over one block in the course it won't change any of the distances."

If the course changes, organizers say you will receive an email to the address you provided when you registered.  You can also go to www.mercedesmarathon.com for updates.

 

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