A record 27,000 runners participated in the Baltimore Running Festival on Saturday. The festival, now in its 14th year, consists of a marathon, a half marathon, a team relay, a wheelchair race, a 5K run and a Kids Fun Run. An estimated 25,000 people participated in these races.
In the team relay, four participants in each team took turns running different portions of the marathon. The Kids Fun Run, sponsored by Transamerica, offered two courses that were less than one mile long for children 12 and under. The organizers of the race encouraged parents to run on the course with their kids.
Brian Rosenberg, a 37-year-old from Pennsylvania, won the men’s marathon with a time of 2:33:27, three minutes ahead of the second-place winner. Alex Wang, a 23-year-old from Ellicott City, won the women’s marathon with a time of 2:58:41. She had such a large lead that she had time to use the bathroom during the race.
Daniel Romanchuk, a 16-year-old from Mount Airy, Md., won the men’s wheelchair race, and 22-year-old Maggie Breschi won the women’s wheelchair race. Kennedy Kithuka and Megan Digregorio won the men’s and women’s 5K races, respectively. Nick Arciniaga finished first in the men’s half-marathon, while Julia Roman-Duval won the women’s half-marathon. The Under Armour team won the team relay race.
The marathon began at 7 a.m. at the corner of Russell and Camden Streets. Participants were required to finish the 26.2 mile race within seven hours. The runners passed by the Homewood campus from approximately 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Senior Michaela Kitson participated in the half marathon, which partially followed the same route as the full marathon.
“This was my second half marathon. I ran my first this past March, the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in DC,” Kitson wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Sophomore Gabriella Russo is also relatively new to running half marathons.
“This was my first race! It was really exciting! I had so much fun running the half marathon!” Russo wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Each runner was offered a performance shirt from Under Armour, a certificate of completion, a medal and refreshments.
The race route weaves through many Baltimore neighborhoods, including the Inner Harbor, Fells Point and Federal Hill. The route also circles Lake Montebello, located in northeast Baltimore.
“I really loved running through different parts of Baltimore, whether I had been to them or not. I also have found that I love running races like these because you’re really running as a community with the other participants,” Kitson wrote.
Junior Megan Auzenbergs, who ran the full marathon, also enjoyed the route.
“The course had a lot of supportive spectators and we definitely got a great scenic tour of Baltimore while running,” she wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
The Running Festival is economically significant to Baltimore — its organizers estimate that the event has made a $305 million impact on the city and the state since it was founded in 2000. The festival has also raised more than $10 million for local charities since its inception.
Auzenbergs first started participating in races when she ran on the cross-country team in high school.
“The training was intense,” she wrote. “I spent almost six months preparing for the marathon. The most I ran while training was 22 miles so I feel like I was well prepared for the actual marathon.”
Russo trained with Auzenbergs before the day of the run.
“It wasn’t tough training for the race, I ran at least four times a week, varying my mileage,” Russo wrote.
Russo felt that the training had prepared her well for the race itself.
“There were definitely parts that were tougher than others, especially the hills, but it was the most amazing feeling crossing the finish line after training so much for it,” she wrote.
Kitson, who loosely followed the Hal Higdon half marathon training program, hopes to continue participating in half marathons. Higdon offers an 18-month training program that helps people who are new to running marathons progress to the point where they feel prepared to run the 26.2-mile races. On his website, Higdon estimates that his program has helped half a million runners complete marathons.
“My experience was great,” Kitson wrote. “I would definitely consider running the Baltimore half again next year, but because I’m a senior, I don’t think I’ll be in Baltimore next fall. That said, I’ll definitely be running more half marathons in the future!”
Russo also intends to keep participating in races like the half marathon she completed this weekend.
“I am definitely going to be running more half marathons — and maybe even a full marathon one day!” she wrote.
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