ATLANTA (WXIA) - The 2012 edition of the Publix Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon kicks off Sunday, March 18, at 7 a.m. The race course will take some 18,000 runners through parts of Atlanta and Decatur, passing a number of Metro area landmarks.

The 26.2 mile course will pass through the Sweet Auburn District, Inman Park, Decatur, Druid Hills, Virginia Highland and Midtown. The events will include 19 hydration stations with water and Gatorade for runners.

The weekend will also feature the Cuties Luckie 5K and Kids Fun Run on Saturday, March 17. Saturday's races will kick off at 8 a.m. from Centennial Olympic Park, and run through the Luckie Marietta District in Downtown Atlanta.

Starting the weekend is the Publix Georgia Marathon Health & Fitness Expo, being held at the Georgia World Congress Center on Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17.

Sidewalks, a streetscape in your community or repaving of nearby streets.  This is a small sample from a comprehensive list of transportation planned projects that our citizens would like to see in their community.  The question remains.  How do we fund them? This summer voters within the ten-county Atlanta metropolitan area will decide whether to fund local and regional transportation projects (from an existing list of projects developed from public input) through a regional transportation referendum.

The City of Atlanta is expected to receive a little over $9.0 million per year for ten years to spend on local projects. The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office, the Departments of Planning and Community Development and Public Works, in coordination with the Atlanta City Council, are working to develop a rolling five-year list of projects to be funded by the 15-percent local allocation, if the referendum passes in July.

ATLANTA --There are tons of fun events going on this weekend, in your area. We've listed a few of them for you to check out with your family and friends.

The 30th Annual Storytelling Festival is wrapping up in Downtown Decatur on Saturday afternoon. Children's stories will be read at 701 West Howard Street in Decatur and there will also be workshops for those who want to get into storytelling. Admission to the events range between $9 and $18.

Underground Atlanta will host their Black in Film series on Saturday afternoon. They'll be featuring the documentary, "A Century of Black Cinema". The program starts at 2:00 p.m.

The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater has returned to Atlanta. The dance troupe is under the direction of a new artistic director but will be performing some of their classics. The show is running at the FOX Theater from Thursday to Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or at Ticketmaster outlets.