A half-marathon will make its way through Jim Thorpe next year after all.

Jim Thorpe Borough Council on Thursday granted approval for the RUNegades organization to host the race, dubbed the Jim Thorpe Running Festival, on May 11, 2019, with a slightly different route than what was initially proposed.

RUNegades Chief Executive Officer Mike Ragozzino said the original route was to start at Owl Creek Reservoir in Tamaqua and finish in Jim Thorpe, but the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation expressed concerns about that plan.

“We got together with Chief Joe Schatz in Jim Thorpe and came up with a route that we feel is safe and the best for both the runners and the police department,” Ragozzino said.

The new route starts at the top of Flagstaff Road, comes down through Mauch Chunk Lake Park, crosses Lentz Trail via the Switchback Railroad Trail, which runners would take across Hill Road until the finish at the top of Packer Hill Avenue.

“We have tentative approval from the county commissioners and will be meeting with them again on Oct. 2 to finalize things,” Ragozzino said.

The race will be 13.1 miles and will benefit the nonprofit Turn To Us foundation based in Jim Thorpe.

Schuylkill River Runners put on the inaugural Jim Thorpe Half-Marathon earlier this year, but Michael Ragozzino and Tristan Edwards split from the organization, calling last year’s race “unorganized.”

“We broke from that group after this year’s race,” Ragozzino said. “Basically, they had us doing all of the logistical planning and execution of the event. We had to keep making up for the mistakes that group made.”

Before the borough knew of the fractured relationship, it approved Schuylkill River Runners to hold the 2019 race, but later rescinded the motion.

Last year’s race drew over 1,000 runners to the area and Ragozzino said he expects similar numbers in 2019.

Schatz said the police department would close down Packer Hill Avenue on race day for safety precautions.