It's the third year of the Bournemouth Marathon Festival - here's a handy guide to what's happening when and where over the weekend.

How many races are there?

There are six races in total - the marathon, half marathon, 10k Supersonic race, 5k Speed of Light race, 2k junior race and 1.5k junior race.

When will they take place?

SATURDAY RACES:

The junior 1.5k race for 6-8-year-olds will begin at 2pm. The 2k race for 9-12-year-olds starts at 2.30pm. Both races start on Bournemouth Prom and finishes near the Bournemouth Marathon Festival Hub in the Lower Gardens. A child safety pen will be in place for both races, located just passed the finish line on Pier Approach.

The 10k Supersonic race will begin at 4pm starting and finishing near the BMF Hub in the Lower Gardens. The race is designed for runners aged 15+. For the full route click here

The 5k Speed of Light race will begin at 7pm starting on Bournemouth Prom and finishing in the Lower Gardens with the runners pounding the route wearing flashing LED armbands and fluorescent clothing to create a “human light show”. Race is designed for 11+ age group.

SUNDAY RACES:

The half marathon will begin at 8am at Kings Park Drive in Boscombe and end at the Lower Gardens in Bournemouth. With the route taking in both Boscombe and Bournemouth piers. For the full route click here

The full marathon, which follows a similar but extended route, will begin from Kings Park Drive at 10am. For the full route click here

How many people are taking part?

11,000 people have registered to take part in this year's event, which is 500 more than last year. The exact breakdown is below:

  • Marathon - 3,000 entrants
  • Half Marathon - 4,500 entrants
  • Supersonic 10K - 2,000 entrants
  • Speed of Light 5K - 1,200 entrants
  • Junior races - 600 entrants

Who should I look out for?

Local hero Steve Way, who came 10th in the Commonwealth Games marathon last year, will be taking part for the first time. 

Kenyan David Toniok, winner of the 2014 Edinburgh Marathon, is favourite to win and starts out as the fastest athlete in the field with a best time of 2hrs 10mins and 39secs over the 26.2 mile distance.

Winner of the first ever Bournemouth Marathon in 2013, Ebisa Merga returns for the third successive year. After setting the course record 2:16.41 in 204, he was second last year in 2:25.30. The Ethiopian will be looking to return to the top step of the podium again this year.

Other contenders in the elite men’s race include Kenyan Boas Kiprono who has a best time of 2:12:36 and Latvia’s Valerijs Zolnerovics who competed in the Olympic marathon at London 2012.

In the women’s race, 2014 winner Kateryna Stetsenko will attempt to retain her title. She is set to go shoulder-to-shoulder again with Joan Kigen of Kenya, runner-up in both 2013 and 2014.

Steve Edwards, 53, will run his 700th marathon at Bournemouth Marathon Festival. Steve, who is from Cotswold town of Moreton in Marsh, will attempt a new world record for running 700 marathons in the fastest average finish time of just under 3hrs 18min!

Alice Burch from the New Forest will attempt to run 60 marathons in 60 days.  The current world record is 53 consecutive marathons.

Adam Eason, who is from Bournemouth, is set to run all four races at this year's event, a total of 48 miles, to raise funds for the British Adoption and Fostering Charity. 

Ben Smith of Bristol is in the midst of attempting to run 401 marathons in 401 days – Bournemouth is the only marathon he is set to run twice and he will be nearing the end of his epic challenge at the 2017 race.

Kerry Whitney, 34, from London is set to tackle the course blindfolded to raise money for UK deafblind charity, Sense. Bournemouth will be Kerry's 13th of 15 marathons in fifteen months. 

Five members of Sikhs in the City will also be taking part in the event. 104-year-old Fauja Singh, who is now retired from the running group, became the first 100-year-old to take part in BMF in 2013. 

Can I still enter?

Unfortunately you can't enter any of the races now as the deadline has passed. 

Where is the best place to watch?

The seafront is one of the best places to watch the races but parking is bound to be an issue so perhaps park a little further out than the central car parks and walk a little way to soak up the excitement.

Hydration stations

Hydration stations for the 10k, half marathon and full marathon will be positioned around 5kms apart with energy tabs supplied as well.

There will also be toilets at all the stations.

View the exact locations here

Bournemouth Marathon Festival hub

The Bournemouth Marathon Festival hub and helpdesk will be located at Bournemouth Lower Gardens. Entrants can pick up race packs or find other information about the festival at the help desk there.

It will be open from 8am-8pm on Saturday and 7am-5pm on Sunday.

Within the hub will also be a charity village where runners can visit their charity should it be affiliated to the event.

Road closures

The ongoing A338 Spur Road rebuild will continue in and out of Bournemouth over the weekend. The road will be redued to one lane in each direction due to a contraflow with a 40mph speed limit in place between the Ashley Heath Roundabout and Blackwater Junction.

 Anyone planning to use this road or the surrounding roads will experience delays.  

The southbound carriageway will be fully closed on Friday night between Cooper Dean and Ashley Heath from 8pm to 6am and on Monday, the northbound carriageway will be fully closed northbound from 8pm to 6am, which may affect anyone coming down to Bournemouth from outside the area. 

As with previous years, more than 100 roads will be closed in the area over the weekend with temporary parking restrictions also applied in various places.

Organisers have again divided the road closures into four zones - the Southbourne area, Boscombe and East Cliff, the West Cliff and Poole.

Buses will be operating their usual routes as much as possible but stops may be altered slightly in Southbourne for Yellow Buses and More Buses.

View all the road closures by clicking here

Parking

The usual town centre car parks will undoubtedly fill up quite quickly on both days, especially as all the events finish in the Lower Gardens, near the Pier. The nearest ones to the town centre are Winter Gardens, Central, West Hill and Glen Fern.

Event bus

Shuttle buses will be operating to transport half marathon and full marathon runners along with spectactors. They will run between Westover Road and Kings Park and stop at Cotlands Road and the Sovereign Centre car parks en route. Tickets cost £8.50 are available here

The half marathon buses will run continuously from 6am-12.30pm and the full from 8am-5pm. 

Weather

Weather forecasts for Bournemouth are currently mixed.

UK weather says Saturday will be partly cloudy with highs of 18C and just a 10% chance of rain, compared with 30% predicted earlier in the week. Sunday ia also partly cloudy with highs of 19C. 

The BBC says Saturday will see sunny intervals around 10am before cloud sets in with highs of 15C, with sunny intervals and highs of 16C on Sunday.

The Met Office agrees with the BBC with the possibility of more sunshine on Sunday. 

Met Check predicts sunny intervals and a 0% chance of rain on Saturday with sunshine and potential for highs of 20C on Sunday. 

The Bournemouth Echo's forecast says Saturday will see sunny intervals and highs of 16C with rain on Sunday. 

Interesting facts

  • Distance debutant Andrew Lesuuda won last year's full marathon in 2:21:41
  • The 2014 BMF attracted 2,000 more participants than the inaugural event in 2013
  • Last year runners helped to raise £500,000 for charity

AND FINALLY

Don't forget to give all the runners a really big cheer as they go past you - weeks, months and even years of training has gone into this.

We'll have photo galleries of all the races and action online as soon as possible after the events.

There will also be video from each day. Follow us on twitter @bournemouthecho or log onto our Bournemouth Daily Echo Facebook page