HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) – The Eversource Hartford Marathon starts Saturday morning.

People have been warned to expect road closures and heavy traffic. The event is one of two events expected to bring large crowds to and through the Hartford area.

The other big event taking place Saturday is the UConn football game against Wake Forest at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

Organizers have put the finishing touches on their final preparations for the races.

They expected nearly 10,000 runners to take part in the marathon, marathon relay, half marathon and charity 5K races. More people were expected to cheer them on.

Tents, tables and lights were set up in Bushnell Park.

Around 1,500 volunteers have been busy making this possible over the past week.

Runners began picking up their packages Thursday evening. The Expo at the XL Center in Hartford was scheduled to continue Friday.

For many runners, Saturday will not be their first race.

As they prepared for the race, Hartford prepared to host.

“I am absolutely thrilled. “The weather looks great,” said Charlie Olbrias from Lebanon. “It was a matter of getting tables and chairs, moving water bottles and getting things ready for the runners when they receive them at the finish line.”

The races start at 8 a.m. The wheelchair races start 5 minutes beforehand.

Channel 3 set up a livestream camera to capture the target. It will be broadcast on The Wax and livestreamed on WFSB+.

Information about the road closure can be found here.

For more information about the entire event, visit the website here.

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