Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Special Events topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves Run 317 route change, earlier date and fee waiver
Summary
The council approved Run 317’s proposed new course and August 21 date, including full street closures on parts of the route and waiving of town fees; organizers anticipate about 1,900 participants and said the revised route reduces runner exposure to traffic.
The Speedway Town Council on Jan. 13 approved a special-events request from Run 317 organizers to change the race course and move the event date to Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. The council also waived town fees for the event.
Jeff Graves, who presented the request, said the start/finish and post-race party would remain on Main Street at Gilman between 14th and 12th streets but that the revised course would route runners onto Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) property and off several town streets for longer stretches. Graves said last year’s route pushed runners into a single lane alongside moving cars for more than a mile and drew negative safety feedback on an annual post-race survey; the event drew more than 1,800 participants in 2024 and organizers expect about 1,900 this year.
Under the new plan, the field would run north on Main to 16th/Coffordsville, cross onto IMS property using the IMS admin parking lot and travel behind the grandstands to Gate 8, then return onto town streets via Georgetown, 24th, Auburn and Crawfordsville before finishing on Main. Graves said the changes would permit 100% closures on many of the streets used and would reduce the area of resident impact compared with prior routing.
An event representative described traffic-diversion points and told the council organizers would divert westbound traffic via 16th and local cross streets and staff intersections with officers so residents could still exit neighborhoods. Organizers said the longest diversion period would be about an hour and 10 minutes and that Auburn would re-open sooner as runners clear the course. Organizers also committed to door-to-door notification and placed yard signs along the route the week before the race.
The council voted to approve the route change, the August 21 date and the fee waiver. The motion passed 5-0.
