APR-B-9
THE INAUGURAL RUNNING OF THE NEW
BALTIMORE MARATHON ON OCTOBER 20,
IN MY SERIES OF WEEKLY FALL MARATHONS
Baltimore Marathon Debuts Oct. 20
By Jim Hage
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, March 30, 2001; Page D05
Marathoning is returning to Baltimore.
The mayor's office announced yesterday that the inaugural Baltimore Marathon
will take place Oct. 20, starting and finishing at PSINet Stadium downtown.
The 26.2-mile course will trace a counter-clockwise loop around the city,
starting east through the Inner Harbor and Fells Point before heading
north. The course will turn west along Northern Parkway, then south through
Johns Hopkins University and Druid Hill Park toward the finish line. The
race will compete regionally with the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington on
Oct. 28, which has a field of 16,000 runners, the New York City Marathon
Nov. 4 (about 33,000 runners), the Richmond Marathon Nov. 10 (5,000 runners),
the Philadelphia Marathon (5,000) and the Montgomery County Marathon
in the Parks (2,000) on Nov. 18.
Still, there should be more than enough runners to go around, as a record
of more than 500,000 completed marathons last year, according to the Road Running
Information Center in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Boo Corrigan, spokesman for the Baltimore Marathon, said runners who don't get into the popular Marine Corps Marathon will be referred to his event through an arrangement with Marine Corps race director Rick Nealis. "It gives those people who are already training somewhere nearby to go," Corrigan said. Corrigan said the Baltimore Marathon hopes to register 5,000 runners and would accept up to 10,000. More than $20,000 in prize money will be awarded, with $3,000 each to the first man and woman. Registration is open now at www.thebaltimoremarathon.com. The race won't be the first marathon run in and around Baltimore, a city that already enjoys a long-distance history that predates the running boom. The Maryland Marathon started in the early 1970s at Memorial Stadium, ran to the Loch Raven Reservoir, and retraced its path to the stadium via the notoriously steep Satyr Hill.
Nonetheless, some of the top international runners of the era raced there, including Olympians Bill Rodgers and Ron Hill, and course record holder Gary Bjorklund from Minnesota. In 1980, the marathon adopted a city course starting downtown, but slid into oblivion after a few more years.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company