The Long Beach Marathon is back this weekend.

Events will kick off Friday with the Race Expo, while the Aquarium of the Pacific 5K is slated for Saturday. The 38th running of the 26.2-mile race, along with a half-marathon and a bike tour, will close out the festivities on Sunday.

To facilitate the race, a total of 19 streets will be partially or completely closed for portions of the day Sunday. Impacted areas include East Long Beach, Cal State Long Beach, Belmont Shore, Alamitos Beach and the waterfront, according to race organizers.

The race starts Downtown at the intersection of Shoreline Drive and Shoreline Village Drive, with runners headed toward the Queen Mary and then Shoreline Village, according to the course map. After running along the beach path, runners will head through Belmont Shore toward Marine Stadium before completing a 5K loop around CSULB. Then runners will head back toward Ocean Boulevard, with the finish line at Shoreline Drive and Linden Avenue.

All road closures Sunday will take place between 12 a.m. and 5 p.m., though individual street closures may not last as long. For instance, Ocean Boulevard between Livingston Drive and Alamitos Avenue will be closed in both directions from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The marathon and bike tour both start at 6 a.m., while the half-marathon begins at 7:30 a.m.

Spectators wishing to drive to the course can find parking at a variety of locations, including lots at the Long Beach Convention Center ($15), Pike Outlets Parking Garage ($15) and City Place Shopping Center ($12).

Streets will be re-opened on a rolling basis, according to race organizers. When the last participants pass an area and all course support materials are removed, roads will be re-opened to traffic at the discretion of local law enforcement.

Law enforcement will be positioned at major intersections to allow cars to cross the marathon course only during safe breaks between participants.

Anthony Pignataro is an investigative reporter and editor for the Long Beach Post. He has close to three decades of experience in journalism leading numerous investigations and long-form journalism projects for the OC Weekly and other publications. He joined the Post in May 2021.