On Saturday, November 14, more than 13,000 runners will start uptown, and for the first time the marathon and half marathon will turn onto East Boulevard and cut through Dilworth. The same fall, Charlotte Running Co. is getting ready to move its longtime Dilworth store to a bigger space at Park Road Shopping Center. The race is arriving on East Boulevard just as the shop that helped make the area a gathering spot for runners prepares to leave it. That timing explains a lot about what race morning will look like in the neighborhood this year.
Why the Course Bent Toward Dilworth
The new route is about hills. As The Charlotte Ledger put it on October 5, both the marathon and the half marathon "will take a new route between miles 7 and 8, turning onto East Boulevard and cutting through Dilworth to Morehead Street," in place of the familiar Morehead Street climb. Axios Charlotte described the same change on September 21 as an East Boulevard section with less time on Morehead. Full-marathon runners also lose the hill just before Mile 24.
The race also has a new owner this year. The Charlotte Sports Foundation bought the rights in January, and November 14 will be its first marathon. Miller Yoho, the foundation's director of communications and marketing, told the Ledger the changes are part of an effort to improve the runner experience while making room for growth. Organizers expect record turnout, with more than 13,000 runners across the marathon, half marathon and 5K. The marathon and half share a course for nearly 13 miles before they split, so the Dilworth stretch near miles 7 and 8 will carry both fields at once.
Easier doesn't mean flat. Yoho told the Ledger:
"There's no such thing as an easy 26.2 miles."
So the course comes into Dilworth because East Boulevard is the gentler way to reach Morehead. Once it's here, it runs into a neighborhood that already has a strong running community of its own.
A Running Crowd That Was Already Here
Charlotte Running Co.'s Dilworth store sits near East Boulevard. On August 31, founder Scott Dvorak told Axios Charlotte that the location has seen double-digit growth over the last three years. Apparel's share of the store's business there has gone from 3.4% to roughly 10 to 11% over that stretch. Dvorak explained the change to Axios as part of a broader wave, where people wear running clothes to run club and then straight on to coffee or brunch.
The store has also been a meeting point. According to an August 21 Axios Charlotte roundup of run clubs, Black Men Run Charlotte meets Saturdays at Charlotte Running Co. in Dilworth. The store's own club, The Sole, meets there Thursdays at 6 a.m. and usually stops for coffee afterward.
All of this is happening across the city. Axios reported that about 10,000 people were expected at the Around the Crown 10K over Labor Day weekend, and that registrations were up 30% from the year before. The marathon's record field fits the same pattern. The difference this year is that one of the busiest stretches of the course now passes through the neighborhood where much of the city's running life already meets.
Where the Store Is Headed
The move has been planned since spring. In a May 14 post on the company's site, Dvorak announced that Charlotte Running Co. would take over the former Bruegger's Bagels and Caribou Coffee spaces at Park Road Shopping Center, which he called "Charlotte's first open-air shopping center" when it opened in 1956. According to Axios Charlotte, the store will grow from 2,400 square feet in Dilworth to 4,600 square feet just off the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.
Plans for the new space include:
- A full coffee bar with beer and wine service
- A recovery zone with a locker room and shower
- A treatment and rehab room run with a local sports-recovery doctor
The company said it would take control of the space on August 1, 2026, and was aiming to open around November or December once the build-out is finished. Dvorak told Axios the Dilworth store will stay open until the new one is ready, and The Sole will move to Park Road this fall.
Because the opening is a target, nobody can say yet whether the Dilworth store will still be open on race day. The Sole was announced as moving this fall. If nothing changes before November 14, which falls on a Saturday, it could be one of the last Saturday Black Men Run Charlotte meetups at the Dilworth store, on the same morning the marathon comes up East Boulevard.
Race Weekend, in Order
Here is the confirmed schedule, from the Charlotte Sports Foundation's race pages:
- Friday, November 13, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Health and Wellness Expo runs at the Charlotte Convention Center.
- Saturday, November 14, 7:10 a.m. The Chick-fil-A 5K starts at 525 S. Tryon Street, between Brooklyn Village Avenue and Levine Avenue of the Arts.
- Saturday, 7:20 a.m. The marathon and half marathon start from the same spot.
- Later that morning, between miles 7 and 8. Both fields turn onto East Boulevard and head through Dilworth to Morehead Street.
The weekend also includes a rucking division within the half marathon. Course maps for all three distances are on the race's runner information page.
As of October 12, a few things that matter to anyone in Dilworth haven't been published:
- Street closure times. The race's race-week page still says to check back for street-closure details. The City of Charlotte's street closings page offers a live map and closure alerts by subscription. Last year's closure schedule covered last year's route, so it won't tell you much about the new East Boulevard turn.
- Cheer stations. The race is trying a new grant program that funds local businesses, running clubs and community groups to set up cheer stations along the route. No recipients or locations have been announced.
- The full Dilworth street list. Published accounts confirm East Boulevard and Morehead Street. For the exact turns, check the official course map.
The Dilworth Community Association heard an update on the 2026 course changes at its October 7 meeting at the Morehead Inn. Its next board meeting is November 4 at the Charlotte Bridge Association, ten days before the race.
Coffee, Pastry and Brunch on East Boulevard
If you'll be out that morning, two East Boulevard spots post hours that work for a Saturday. Sunflour Baking Company's Dilworth bakery at 220 East Boulevard opens at 7 a.m. daily, including Saturdays, and closes at 4 p.m. 300 East, at 300 East Boulevard, serves weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Neither has posted special race-day hours, so it's worth checking with each one that week, especially once closure times are out.
Race weekends tend to bring up practical questions for Dilworth homeowners, like what a road closure means for a showing, a move-in date or an open house on a Saturday morning. If you're thinking about timing on East Boulevard or anywhere in the neighborhood this fall, the team at Carolina Living & Estates would be glad to help you plan around November 14. Contact Us.
