Marshall Closes Streets Friday for South School Spooktacular Road Race

Marshall City Council | October 26, 2026

Article Summary: The Marshall City Council on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, approved South School’s request to close the roads behind the school for its annual Spooktacular Road Race on Friday, Oct. 30, from 8 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

Spooktacular Road Race Key Points:

• Street closure approved unanimously among members present, on a motion by Green seconded by King.
• Closure runs 8 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, on the roads behind South School.
• The school also asked for barricades, delivered Thursday evening, Oct. 29, or early Friday morning.
• The request letter lists a rain date of Monday, Nov. 2; the motion as recorded in the minutes refers only to Oct. 30.

MARSHALL — Streets behind South School will close Friday morning for the school’s annual Spooktacular Road Race, after the Marshall City Council on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, approved the closure request on a motion by Green seconded by King.

The minutes record the motion carrying with all council members present voting in favor. Swalls was absent.

The request in the packet, written on behalf of the school, states that “South School will be holding our annual Spooktacular Road Race on Friday, October 30, 2026, with a rain date of Monday, November 2, 2026.” It asks the city for barricades and for assistance closing the roads behind the school “to help ensure the safety of our students and staff,” and sets out the closure window as 8 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. If possible, the letter adds, the school would appreciate having the barricades delivered Thursday evening, Oct. 29, or early Friday morning, “so everything can be in place before the event begins.”

The race is run in waves by grade and classroom. Kindergarten classes run a quarter-mile course in five waves between 8:25 and 8:45 a.m. First-grade classes run the same quarter-mile distance in five waves between 9 and 9:20 a.m. Second-grade classes run a half-mile course in five waves between 9:35 and 10:15 a.m., with 10 minutes between each.

Two course maps printed Oct. 15, 2026 are attached to the request. One measures 1,312.52 feet, or 400.06 meters; the other measures 2,624.95 feet, or 800.08 meters — roughly the quarter-mile and half-mile distances in the schedule. Both show looping routes through the residential grid immediately east and south of the school, in the blocks between Cherry Street and Elm Street and east of South 9th Street, taking in a playground and a pickleball and basketball park marked on the maps.

The minutes record the approval as covering the “street closure request October 30th.” The letter’s Nov. 2 rain date is not mentioned in the motion as recorded, and nothing in the record states whether a rescheduled race would need to come back to the council. Parents and residents along the course should check with the city for the exact streets affected; the course maps in the packet are low-resolution scans.