Sherri Robbins was so impressed by the energy as she ran across the Macdonald bridge in the first ever Blue Nose Marathon in 2004.

As the executive director of the marathon, she wants people participating in this year’s marathon to have the same experience.

“My biggest hope would be that everybody enjoys their race experience,” says Robbins.

“What we’re striving to do is make it an extraordinary experience for our participants.”

The 21st annual Blue Nose Marathon kicks off Friday morning with the marathon expo, where people can pickup their marathon kits and register for all of the events.

More than 9000 participants will take over some of Halifax’s street as they run to raise money for lots of different organizations, including the IWK Foundation, the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, the Bide Awhile Animal Shelter and more.

So far, the marathon has raised more than $190,000 of it’s $250,000 goal.

Some streets will be closed all weekend for the marathon, mostly around the Emera Oval, along with the Macdonald bridge, while police officers will manage traffic flow on other roads with runners.

This is a map of the full Blue Nose Marathon on Sunday, which includes many of the streets affected by closures or traffic direction. (Blue Nose Marathon)

There are a total of six races.

On Saturday, there’s the Purple Cow 5KM and the Doctors Nova Scotia Youth Run 4 km and 2 km runs.

On Sunday, there’s the Blue Nose Full Marathon, the GoodLife Fitness 10 km run, and the Medavie Half Marathon.

For more details visit the weekend schedule on the Blue Nose website.

Registration for some events will still be open into Friday afternoon, including the Purple Cow 5 km and the Doctors Nova Scotia youth run, says Robbins.

Anyone who wants to participate in the races on Sunday can still sign up on Saturday.