Big weekend road closures, mapped

D.C. is starting its favorite season with a bang – the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon and 5k on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Why it matters: The race on Saturday brings friends and family to town, but it’s also a traffic nightmare.

What’s happening: If you need to drive around D.C. this weekend, especially downtown, there are quite a few parking and road restrictions to know about.

• Much of North Capitol St., Constitution Ave., and surrounding streets will be closed to parking starting as early as Friday night. Here’s the full list.
• Many road closures will be downtown, but the half marathon course goes through a big chunk of Northwest, including through Columbia Heights.

Race organizers say 17,000 runners are registered.

On the bright side: Most St. Patrick’s Day parades were last weekend so Washingtonians won’t have to fight through multiple large events at the same time.

Plus: The marathon event includes a bunch of free entertainment that’s open to anyone. You can see a couple of bands and a DJ at the finish line on the National Mall near the Capitol from 8:15am to 1:30pm.

And several groups will play on stages around the course, including:

• Batalá, a popular all-female Afro-Brazilian band.
• A motivational drill sergeant, which sounds interesting.
• An Abe Lincoln impersonator, to keep runners honest.