Running buddies Danielle Rigsby, Brooke Gates and Christy Lynch figured they’d spend as much time sitting in traffic on the eve of the Rock ’n’ Roll Savannah Marathon as they would running the race course today.
The trio heard about the logistical catastrophe that befell the pre-race expo prior to last year’s inaugural race. Their friends back in Columbus told them how they’d spent hours in gridlock on the Talmadge Bridge and the road that connects the bridge to the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center on Hutchinson Island.
“We had planned to park downtown and take the ferry across,” Rigsby said. “When we got here and saw there was no traffic, we decided to drive on over.”
That they did so at 4:30 p.m., at the height of the check-in rush, underscores how much more smoothly the registration and expo went Friday than a year ago. By urging runners to utilize water taxis, employing additional traffic control personnel on Hutchinson Island, and opening up the nearby race course’s paddock area for overflow parking, the check-in experience was more fun than frustrating.
“More took advantage of the water ferry option this year; downtown was nice and busy all afternoon,” said marathon director Malain McCormick, who split her time Friday between the start and finish line areas in the historic district and the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center. “The message we wanted to get out did.”
Organizers face another traffic challenge this morning in parking many of the 17,000 runners in advance of the race. Unlike last year, when runners were urged to park in remote lots and shuttled into downtown, the plan today is to utilize the parking garages, surface lots and on-street parking.
Visit Savannah’s Joe Marinelli urged participants to arrive in the downtown area by 6:30 a.m., 90 minutes ahead of the race’s start. Police will start to close streets in preparation for the race starting at 8 a.m.
“Get there early, park your car and then you can take a nap if you want to,” McCormick said.
The expo’s logistical success buoyed hopes for today’s activity. Organizers urged local participants to pick up their race packets on Thursday, the opening day of the expo, and offered a band concert, as well as giveaways to attract runners already in town. More than 3,600 runners visited on Thursday, 700 more than on the Thursday before last year’s race.
The remaining 13,500 or so runners flooded into the expo Friday, but many more accessed Hutchinson Island via the water ferries from River Street this year rather than driving over in their cars. Chatham Area Transit’s three ferries, with a combined capacity of 300 passengers, ran all day while the 600-passenger Savannah River Queen was drafted into service starting at 2:15 p.m.
The ferry system was moving approximately 3,000 runners per hour, according to McCormick.
Another ferry, the newest in the CAT fleet, arrived on site Friday but did not shuttle passengers. The ferry was supposed to be online but was damaged following its sea trials. Repairs delayed its arrival by three weeks — it docked at the Hutchinson Island landing for the first time about noon Friday — and CAT personnel have to be trained on its operation before it goes into service.
The ferry, known as the Mary Musgrove, is bigger than its peers and utilizes lateral thrusters, requiring additional training.
Friday’s flow was in sharp contrast to the day before last year’s race, when a crush of Friday afternoon arrivals gridlocked Hutchinson Island’s Wayne Shackleford Parkway, the Talmadge Bridge and parts of downtown Savannah. Traffic began to back up at 1 p.m. and by 3 p.m. the Talmadge Bridge’s northbound lanes were a parking lot.
“It was nothing like we expected,” said Gates of the Columbus running trio. “It was a pleasant surprise.”