Between mile 7 and mile 8 on Saturday, Nov. 14, the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon turns onto East Boulevard and runs through Dilworth to Morehead Street. The half marathon follows the same turn. Earlier courses sent runners up Morehead and left Dilworth's main street out. This year it's part of the route.
The timing also fits the neighborhood. The busiest stretch of the race in Dilworth comes early in the morning, on a street with a running store, a weekly run club and a 7 a.m. bakery. Organizers expect a record field, which makes East Boulevard one of the best seats on the course for anyone who lives within walking distance.
Why the course bends through Dilworth now
The Charlotte Ledger reported that the change removes one of the course's best-known climbs. Marathon and half marathon runners now go down East Boulevard and through Dilworth to reach Morehead Street, so they skip the old Morehead climb. A separate change takes out a hilly loop near mile 24, but only for full marathon runners.
Who runs past matters. The full and half marathons share the course for nearly 13 miles before they split, so the East Boulevard stretch gets runners from both races. Axios Charlotte reported that this is the race's first year under new ownership. The Charlotte Sports Foundation bought the rights in January, and organizers expect more than 13,000 people across the marathon, half marathon and 5K, a record. The 5K runs its own shorter course, so the crowd heading down East Boulevard is the full and half field.
Even with the new route, Charlotte isn't flat. "There's no such thing as an easy 26.2 miles," Miller Yoho, the foundation's director of communications and marketing, told The Charlotte Ledger. Runners coming through Dilworth will still have most of their race ahead of them.
Race morning, by the clock
Everything starts uptown, and Dilworth is the first neighborhood after the start where the full field passes. Here are the official 2026 times from the Charlotte Sports Foundation runner info page:
- 6:30 a.m. Corrals open for all distances at 525 S. Tryon St., between Brooklyn Village Avenue and Levine Avenue of the Arts.
- 7:05 a.m. The Chick-fil-A 5K corral closes.
- 7:10 a.m. The 5K starts, and the marathon and half marathon corrals close.
- 7:20 a.m. The marathon and half marathon start.
- 7:28 a.m. Estimated first 5K finisher.
- 8:35 a.m. Estimated first half marathon finisher.
- 9:50 a.m. Estimated first marathon finisher.
Dilworth comes between miles 7 and 8. The front of the field will reach East Boulevard well before the half marathon leaders finish uptown at 8:35. If you want to see the leaders, plan to be outside early rather than strolling over at brunch time. The rest of the field takes much longer to pass. RunSignup lists the half marathon's event window ending at 10:20 a.m. and the marathon's at 1:20 p.m. Those are event times, not street-clearance times.
If you're driving that morning, check the official course maps for the exact turns between East Boulevard and Morehead. Watch the City of Charlotte's street closings page too. It has an interactive closure map and a notification service. The race moved to East Boulevard this year, so whatever you remember about last year's traffic may not apply.
Dilworth was already Charlotte's running neighborhood
The new route runs right past the neighborhood's running hub. In its August look at the city's running boom, Axios Charlotte reported that Charlotte Running Company's Dilworth shop near East Boulevard grew by double digits over three years. Apparel went from 3.4% of that store's business to roughly 10 to 11%. The same story said run-club participation is growing and that running clothes now show up at coffee and brunch. It also reported that organizers expect about 10,000 people at the Around the Crown 10K, with registration up 30%.
That store, at 1412 East Blvd., hosts a weekly Monday Night Run Club from 6 to 7 p.m. for all paces. On weekday mornings, The Sole Run Club meets at the same address from 6:15 to 7:15 a.m. One is listed for Thursday, Nov. 5. Nine days later, the marathon comes down the same street those groups run every week.
The cheer-station invite is written for driveways
Cheer stations are new for the Charlotte Marathon this year. The Charlotte Ledger describes them as a grant program that helps local businesses, running clubs and community groups set up spots to encourage runners along the route. The foundation's Get Involved page speaks to residents directly:
"Whether you are pouring mimosas from your driveway, throwing a block party, or rallying your neighborhood to line the streets, your energy is what makes this race unforgettable for every runner who passes by."
The sign-up form is on that page, and the foundation says more details and perks are coming soon. The race reaches Dilworth less than ten miles in, when runners are still bunched together. A block party there would cheer on a large share of the field at once.
Coffee before the first runners
Two places near the route open early enough to grab something before you head out:
- Sunflour Baking Company, 220 East Blvd. Open daily 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., so it's open before the 7:20 start uptown.
- Not Just Coffee, Dilworth, 2230 Park Road. Opens at 7:30 a.m. on Saturdays and stays open until 5 p.m.
Sunflour is right on East Boulevard. Not Just Coffee is on the Park Road side of the neighborhood, so it works better if you're walking in from that direction.
Where the running crowd heads after November
Dilworth's running scene is also changing on Park Road. Charlotte Running Company has announced that its Dilworth store is moving to Park Road Shopping Center, into the former Bruegger's Bagels and Caribou Coffee spaces. The shopping center opened in 1956 as Charlotte's first open-air shopping center, and it sits along the 19-mile Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Axios put the new store at 4,600 square feet.
The company's announcement describes more than a shoe store. Plans include a full coffee bar, beer and wine service, and a recovery zone with a locker room, a shower, and a treatment and rehab room run with a local sports-recovery doctor. The company said it would take over the space on Aug. 1, 2026, and is aiming to open around November or December once the build-out is done. That's a target, not a set date. For race weekend, the address to know is still 1412 East Blvd.
Once the new store opens, Dilworth's running scene will stretch from East Boulevard to the greenway. On Nov. 14, both ends of it will be within a short walk of the course.
If race day has you wondering what it's like to live on the streets the marathon now runs through, Tyler Ferguson knows Dilworth block by block, from East Boulevard to Park Road. Let's connect and talk through your Charlotte home search, whether you want to be close to the route or a little further from the cowbells.
