Come Friday and Saturday, thousands of runners will be ready for the fourth annual “Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon”:http://illinoismarathon.com/. And so will the local police departments, officers say.

Police department officials say they are prepared to handle the influx of people and any problems that may arise during the races, particularly with traffic. About 20,000 people had registered to participate in the races by Thursday evening, said Joe Seeley of the Illinois Marathon.

Lt. Roy Acree of the University police said on Thursday night, traffic enforcements will start to go into effect in areas surrounding the marathon finish line at Memorial Stadium.

Starting Friday, University police will focus on intersection traffic management. In addition, Acree said a small number of officers will be outside the stadium patrolling the area Saturday to ensure further safety.

Lt. Robert Fitzgerald of the Urbana Police Department said officers and volunteers will be starting to patrol traffic and initiate street closings early Saturday morning. The first set of streets are expected to close by 6:45 a.m. with more closings based on the progression of the races. Fitzgerald said he expects the last closed road to be reopened around 11:30 a.m.

Fitzgerald said these closings are necessary for the promotion of the continued success of the event.

“It’s an inconvenience for some people, but it only happens once a year,” Fitzgerald said.

Acree added that for non-runners, a good place to check out more information about how to maneuver the area Saturday can be found on the “marathon’s website”:http://illinoismarathon.com/roadclosures.php.

Sgt. Jim Clark of the Champaign Police Department said on that site, one very good tool to use is the “beltway map”:http://illinoismarathon.com/pdf/map_beltway.pdf, which details which routes are best to take in order to navigate across Champaign-Urbana without running into marathon foot traffic.

“We’ll be shutting down a lot of roads for the safety of everyone,” Clark said. “Unless you absolutely need to go through downtown Champaign, it is best to use the beltway map we have set up.”

Other events in town, such as Ebertfest, will not be affected by the races, Clark said. As the marathon races take place in the morning, he believes the afternoon and evening showings in the downtown Virginia Theatre will not see delays due to traffic.

“Ebertfest doesn’t start until 12 on Saturday,” Clark said. “By then, most of the marathon advisories will no longer be in effect.”

Now in its fourth year, Acree said University police have worked hard with the Urbana, Champaign and state police departments to ensure that they are prepared. In addition, the various police departments are also working with fire and emergency medical services agencies to make sure they are available to provide medical assistance for runners.

“Each additional year has been a stepping stone for us,” Acree said. “The more times we’ve done this, the more we know of what to expect.”

Clark said his best advice for those who want to venture into Champaign and Urbana on Saturday is patience. It will take extra time to get from one place to another, but he added the first few years have helped perfect their handling of the event.

“We’re ready for it,” Clark said. “We’re prepared and fully staffed for the weekend. Hopefully the weather works out for us.”