The Guardian Mile

Getting to the start

RTA Rapid "Ohio City" station, West 25th Street

Official race info states parking is available near the start line between the West Side Market lot, lots across from St. Ignatius High School, and street parking in Ohio City / Tremont, and that RTA operates multiple routes serving the Ohio City Rapid Station on West 25th Street as an alternative to driving.

Getting to the finish

Same general area (Hope Memorial Bridge / Ohio City-Tremont vicinity)

Not separately specified from the start on pages checked; race crosses Hope Memorial Bridge.

Start shuttle

RTA public rail (Rapid) to Ohio City Station is cited as the transit alternative to driving.

Transit card

SmartRT (GCRTA smartcard)

Ticket vending machines/kiosks at Red Line stations, HealthLine stations, and the Customer Service Center at Tower City; funds can also be loaded at participating VanillaDirect retail locations. Not accepted at the gates — get the local card above

Alternative: Day Pass $5.00 (single ride $2.50) — Worth buying if taking 3+ rides in a day, since it caps at the day-pass cost automatically for smartcard/app users under the new account-based ticketing system. In June 2026 GCRTA launched account-based ticketing (powered by Masabi) with fare capping, but riders tap-and-ride using the GCRTA SmartRT smartcard or by scanning a phone via the Transit/EZfare app — official sources do not describe riders tapping a bare foreign contactless bank card directly on the reader.

Cash is accepted on buses; cards are only usable at station kiosks/TVMs to load fare. Cleveland's RTA accepts exact cash fare on buses, farecards purchased from station ticket vending machines (which take credit/debit cards), or mobile ticketing through the EZfare feature in the Transit App.

On the Red/Blue/Green rail lines, fare is paid via farecard tap or at the platform TVM before boarding.