Newly designed Providence Marathon ready to step off May 3

As more than 30,000 runners plan to run in today's Boston Marathon, Susan Rancourt and her team are preparing for the next running of the Providence Marathon in just a couple of weeks.

About 2,000 runners are expected to take to the reconfigured course that starts and ends at East Providence's Bold Point Park, and includes stretches in Providence, Pawtucket and Barrington, as well.

"We kind of combined the best of the two courses, the best of the full course and the best of the half course, into one course now," Rancourt said. The Sunday, May 3, event includes a full marathon, half marathon, a 5K and a kids run.

Rancourt, a co-founder of the race, and her partner have been back in charge of the event since 2025. Ventures – a company owned by USA Today Co. (the parent company of The Providence Journal) – previously presided over the event's organization. It's nearly sold out this year despite not have a title sponsor.

A runner herself, Rancourt was involved in the marathon ever since it was sponsored by FuelBelt, and has seen it go through several iterations. This year, it's up to her and her team of staffers and volunteers (about 400-500 on race day) to give runners a fun and safe experience.

Molly Boigon runs to the side of the final stretch to greet her friends who were cheering her on before finishing up the 2017 Providence Marathon.

"People have been out for 16 weeks in, particularly this winter, rain, wind, cold, snow – everything that it takes," Rancourt said. "And they give up time away from their families, and they hurt, and they're sore, and they give up social times.... everything that it takes to get to the start, that weighs on me heavily."

Three years ago, before Rancourt and her team resumed control of the event, a runner from New York collapsed during the 12th mile of the half marathon and died the day after the event. Begho Ukueberuwa, 27, died of cardiac arrest brought on by hyperkalemia (high potassium level) and rhabdomyolysis (a breakdown of muscle tissue), according to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

"[We want to] make sure that they have the event that is worthy of the last 16 weeks of this training, and also to make sure that they stay safe," Rancourt said.