Lisbon's Marathon Runs the Coast Road on Saturday, Then the Half Marathon Narrows the Vasco da Gama Bridge to One Lane Each Way on Sunday

Lisbon hosts two big road races this weekend, and drivers on both banks of the Tagus will feel them. The EDP Lisbon Marathon starts in Carcavelos at 8:00 on Saturday 10 October and follows the coast and the river into the city, and the Hyundai Half Marathon sets off across the Vasco da Gama Bridge at 9:20 on Sunday 11 October, with traffic on the bridge cut to one lane in each direction for most of the morning.

Sunday: the Vasco da Gama Bridge

Lusoponte, the company that runs both Tagus road bridges, said traffic on the Vasco da Gama will be limited to one lane each way from midnight to 14:00 on Sunday. The bridge stays open throughout, but the operator warns of possible queues in both directions and advises drivers to plan ahead, allow extra time and check the traffic cameras on its website before setting out.

The half marathon runs 21 kilometres from the bridge to the Praça do Comércio and has a three-hour time limit, according to the organiser, the Maratona Clube de Portugal. The EDP 8K starts at the same time and place. Lusa reports more than 15,000 participants on Sunday.

Saturday: the coast road into Lisbon

The full marathon starts on the Estrada N6-7 in Carcavelos, opposite the NOVA School of Business and Economics, and finishes at the Praça do Comércio. The organiser describes the course as running entirely beside the sea and the river: its map passes Paço de Arcos, the Forte de São Julião da Barra, Belém's tower, monument and monastery and the 25 de Abril Bridge on the way into the centre. Its runner guide lists 15,000 participants and a six-hour limit, which means runners could be on the course until about 14:00.

That stretch overlaps with the Marginal, the coast road whose future is already a local argument this week after Cascais council raised the idea of a toll on it. The organiser's race pages do not give road closure times, so drivers heading along the coast between Cascais and Lisbon on Saturday morning should expect restrictions and check notices from the councils of Cascais, Oeiras and Lisbon.

A children's race, the EDP New Generation, takes place at 16:00 on Saturday at Rossio dos Olivais in the Parque das Nações.

Trains, buses and bibs

Runners travel free on CP trains, Carris buses and the Lisbon Metro on race day by showing their bib, according to the organiser. For the marathon start it recommends the Cascais line: trains leave Cais do Sodré from 5:30 and take about 30 minutes to Carcavelos, whose station is roughly a kilometre from the start, and the organiser warns that after 7:10 no more trains will reach Carcavelos in time for the start. Trains from Cascais run from 5:30 and take about 15 minutes. The organiser is also laying on buses to the start from Cais do Sodré.

That means busy early trains on the Cascais line on Saturday, and anyone else travelling that way first thing should allow for crowds.

Bibs and kits are handed out at the Sport Expo in Pavilion 3 of the FIL, in the Parque das Nações, from 10:00 to 20:00. Marathon runners must collect theirs by Friday, since none will be handed out on race day; half marathon runners can also collect on Saturday.