About 2,500 runners from 25 countries are running in the third Burgas marathon today, Burgas council said. There are five races, from a 1 km family run to the full 42 km.

On Wednesday the council warned that streets in the city centre will be closed on Sunday, and buses will use changed routes from 7:30am to 4:00pm.

On November 11, the municipality announced that Han Asparuh Street would be closed from Troyka Square to Slavyanska Street as early as 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The 5 km runners start first, at 9:00am, followed straight away by the 1 km family run. The 20 km and 42 km runners set off at 10:00am, and the 10.5 km runners go last. The full marathon is four laps of a 10.5 km course, and runners have 5 hours to finish.

The route runs along the main boulevards and streets and through the Sea Garden to the Sea Station. The start and finish are on the straight in front of Tria City Centre. The temperature is around 5-6C. The council reports strong interest in all races, with runners from Bulgaria and abroad at the start. Veronika Borisova, chief sport expert at Burgas council, says many runners have come from abroad.

"The organisers expect even more runners next year," Borisova said.