The annual Eastside Subaru Mother’s Day Half Marathon and 5K set for May 10 at Juanita Beach Park will mark the first major event on the Cross Kirkland Corridor (CKC) since its completion and ribbon cutting in late January.

For the marathon’s planners, the CKC will allow runners to enjoy a flatter, more scenic section of the course, while the city is using the race to work out guidelines for future use in other events.

The race, which starts and ends at Juanita Beach Park, will involve 5.5 miles on the CKC, starting at Northeast 28th Place near Interstate 520 and ending where the trail meets 112th Street. Kirkland City Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator Kalake wri Page, who plans to participate in the race herself, said that they intend to keep the CKC open to the public whenever an event uses the trail in order to prevent potential conflicts.

“It’s the public’s corridor, and we want it to remain that way,” she said. “I think one of our main focuses on any event is to remain open for people who want to walk and bike and do whatever on the corridor as well.”

Ever since the CKC opened, Page said they have received multiple inquiries about possibly using it, and they expect more in the future.

“I think we are bracing ourselves for that,” she said.

In the meantime, she said they plan to have a website for the CKC up and running, as well as created a template for its use. One policy they have decided is to limit the number of events per month to just two. Others, she said, such as the number of participants allowed in events on the trail, will be decided based on how well it handles the estimated 2,000 half marathon runners. Regardless, they expect it to be a better experience for runners.

“We hope it’s ideal,” she said. “We’ve laid down some pretty good guidelines that will make it safe and fun for all.”

The marathon planners saw the CKC as a great way to improve the course experience as well reduce the number of hills in the race, according to Director of Marketing Garett Slettebak at Pro-Motions Inc.

“We had been kind of tracking and watching the evolvement of the trail,” he said. “Knowing it used to be a train track bed, we knew it was going to be flat. A big interest is just that. It removes a lot of hills and provides quite a bit of scenery looking down down on Lake Washington.”

The CKC will also reduce the amount of road surface runners have to use. Additionally, the trail will allow for better opportunities for runners to pass one another without being limited by the route.

“There’s not necessarily a conflict with vehicles, but when you’re running on city streets you’re running next to cars,” Slettebak said. “The trail removes that. I think it’s going to provide a much more calming environment.”

It also means fewer road closures for the city to deal with.

“It’s where people want to run and much better than being alongside a road,” Page said. “It’s safer. All you have to deal with is the crossing.”

One change they made for the half marathon and walk was to change it from a loop course, beginning and ending at the same location, into a point-to-point route. Although it still finishes at Juanita Beach Park, the half marathon and walk will begin at Northwest University, with shuttles available to take them back to the school once the race is over. Having it start at the university will have the runners spread out by the time they reach the trail and not block public access. Due to the change, the race will actually finish at a lower elevation than when it begins.

Slettebak said they hope to use the trail in the future, but it hasn’t been decided as of yet.

The half marathon event will start at Northwest University at 7:30 a.m., while the 5K will start at Juanita Beach Park at 8 a.m.

For more information, go to promotionevents.com/MothersDay/course.html.