Photo by Jim McWilliams, Philadelphia Marathon.

The Philadelphia Marathon is this Sunday and that means you need to be on your toes if you’re trying to get around the city that morning (an additional 150,000 or so people are expected to come into the city beginning at about 5 a.m.). The main race starts at 7 a.m. at 22nd and Ben Franklin Parkway and we have compiled some information below on street closures, changes in SEPTA routes and places to watch the race.

The race route enters West Philly along Chestnut Street before hooking a right on 34th Street and proceeding to Fairmount Park. The race winds through the park near the Please Touch Museum before connecting with Martin Luther King Drive and following the river before turning back toward the Art Museum. The 6-mile West Philly section are miles 7 through 13 on the 26-mile course. See below for the exact route, “cheer zone” spots and approximate times runners will be blowing through.

Public transit routes will be impacted and some some streets will be closed. Bus routes that cross the marathon route will be rerouted from about 4:30 a.m. until, in some cases, early evening, according to SEPTA. Here is a list of bus routes that will be changed, including buses 21 and 42. If you need to get to Center City or thereabouts on Sunday your best bet in most cases will be the Market-Frankford line.

The city also says it will enforce “no parking” regulations along the race route and will begin towing violators early Sunday morning. Look for signs.

Some of the major areas impacted include:

– The inner lanes of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Friday, November 15 through Sunday, November 17.
– Citywide along the 26.2-mile route of the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday, November 17.

The following streets will be closed at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 17, and will reopen, as runners pass through the race course. All race routes will remain closed until 4 p.m. (Taken from the marathon website.)

• 21st Street, from Spring Garden to Arch streets
• 22nd Street, from Spring Garden to Arch streets
• Benjamin Franklin Parkway, from 22nd to 16th streets
• Arch Street between 16th to 4th streets
• 4th Street Arch to Vine streets
• Race Street, from 4th Street to Columbus Boulevard
• Columbus Boulevard (Southbound lanes), Vine Street to Washington Avenue
• Southbound off-ramp, from I-95 at Washington Avenue
• Washington Avenue, from Columbus Boulevard to Front Street
• Front Street, from Washington Avenue to South Street
• South Street, Front to 6th streets
• 6th Street, Bainbridge to Market streets
• Chestnut Street, 6th to 34th streets
• 34th Street, Chestnut Street to Girard Avenue
• Lansdowne Drive, Girard Avenue to South Concourse Drive
• South Concourse Drive, Lansdowne Drive to West Memorial Hall Drive
• West Memorial Hall Drive, South Concourse to Avenue of the Republic
• Avenue of the Republic, West Memorial Hall Drive to Centennial Circle
• Old Lansdowne Drive to the Sweetbriar Loop
• East on Black Road to Martin Luther King Drive
• Martin Luther King Drive
• North on Kelly Drive to the Falls Bridge
• The Falls Bridge
• Ridge Avenue, Schoolhouse Lane to Manayunk Avenue
• Main Street, Ridge Avenue to Green Lane.

Here are a list of the “cheer zones” (places to watch the race that include some sponsored zaniness) on this side of the Schuylkill:

• Wawa Cheer Zone, 34th & Chestnut Streets—Mile 7.5 (7:10 a.m.-9:15 a.m.)

• 34th Street & Fairmount Avenue—Mile 8.3 (7:15 a.m.-9:30 a.m.)

• Kids Cheer Zone, 34th Street & Girard Avenue @ the Philadelphia Zoo—Mile 8.5 (7:15 a.m.-9:30 a.m.) J

• West Memorial Hall Drive near Please Touch Museum—Mile 9.8 (7:15 a.m.-9:45 a.m.)

Course Turnaround at Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive & Black Road—Mile 11.1 (7:20 a.m.-10:00 a.m.) A runner’s favorite, the Vaudevillians NYB return again for a wild and quirky time to keep runners going as half marathoners are almost to the finish line and the full marathoners are getting into the groove.

The Philadelphia Marathon route (from the official website). Click to enlarge:

Photo courtesy ThePennRelays.com

The nation’s oldest and largest track and field event, the Penn Relays, kicks off tomorrow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field (233 S. 33rd St.) and there are a couple things West Philadelphia residents should know about the event.

First, traffic near Franklin Field will increase significantly as a result of the Relays, which run through Saturday. Penn security officials said 33rd Street from Walnut to South will be closed for about an hour on Saturday, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Those planning to attend the event, which attracts some 15,000 athletes ranging from high school students to Olympians, should expect much tighter security than in the past due to the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon. Security will be tight at every entrance to Franklin Field and everyone will be checked with metal detectors. Bomb-sniffing dogs and bomb disposal teams will also be on hand.

Here are the rules:

• Backpacks and large bags (gym bags etc.) will not be permitted into Franklin Field or the Relay Carnival Village.

• Participants (athletes, coaches, team medical personnel) will be permitted to bring in backpacks. These bags will be thoroughly checked and will only be allowed in via the designated participant entrances.

• All bags containing food must be smaller than 12x12x6 (inches) and in clear plastic bags. Sealed plastic water bottles and cardboard juice boxes are permitted inside the clear plastic bags.

• Coolers, glass bottles and cans will not be permitted.

For more info, including ticket information and schedule of events, go to the Penn Relays website.

The Philadelphia 76ers will host a free open scrimmage later today at the Palestra (220 S. 32nd St.). Tickets are free and will be available at the gates. The first 1,500 people in get a free Sixers t-shirt. Coach Doug Collins will wear a wireless mic during the game and spectators will be able to hear his comments to the team. The doors open at 5 p.m. and the scrimmage runs 6-8 p.m.

We just got word that youth soccer at Clark Park is cancelled this week. Recent rains have left too much water in the Bowl. Soccer will resume next Saturday if things dry out a little.

One of the area’s best-known bicycle shops will open a location at the former Strikes Bowling Lounge (and an original Urban Outfitters store) at 4040 Locust St. later this summer.

Keswick Cycle will reportedly open the 4,000-square-foot store in late August, just as students start to return to the area en masse. The store, which will include bike and clothing sales and maintenance, will likely be the largest bike shop in West Philly.

The store will also include a studio to help elite riders and triathletes get fitted for bikes.

Keswick Cycle has been a neighborhood fixture in the Montgomery County suburb of Glenside since the 1930s and also operates a store in Cherry Hill, N.J.

Here’s a piece from the CBS Evening News last night on brothers Kareem and Daymar Rosser and their friend Brandon Reese from the Cowtown/Work to Ride polo team, which won the 42nd annual USPA National Interscholastic Championship tournament last month.

The three young men, all West Philly natives, were the first African American team ever to win the title.