The Montreal Marathon has been a late-September fixture in this town for decades.

This year, there's a bit of a twist.

The event is now part of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, a concept which was created in San Diego in the late 1990s and has now spread to 32 cities around the world.

The concept will see local rock bands playing all along the route to provide musical accompaniment for the runners as they make their way along the course.

The Montreal Marathon is the first Rock 'n' Roll event in Canada.

It's a concept which will see about a dozen local bands provide musical accompaniment for the runners as they make their way along the course.

"We wanted to make running more fun and less intimidating," says Dana Allen, with Competitor Group Inc., the people behind the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series. "We wanted more people to get active, so we decided the best way to do that would be to put entertainment out on the course."

She adds, there'll also be cheerleaders taking their place along the route, and a show by the band Porn Flakes at Lafontaine Park, where the run ends.

Organizers worried about Internet bib-selling

A record 27,000 runners are set to take part in the marathon, half-marathon, 10k, 5k, and 1k events.

The event had become so popular that some who've signed up are trying to sell their bibs on websites like Kijiji.

Organizers are discouraging that practice, so they can keep track of all the runners who take part, just incase there are any medical emergencies.

Bernard Arsenault, one of the marathon's organizers, says it's especially important, considering that last year, a 30-year-old runner died of a heart attack just as he was completing the course.

"I wouldn't like to see something like that this year...or maybe a runner we have to transport to hospital for any reason, and he has on him a bib number with another name. Can you imagine what will happen?"

Visit the Montreal Marathon's website here.

Photos: Marathon de Montréal
Front page photo: Robert Skinner (La Presse)