City Center Hagerstown will see a field of green on Saturday, March 16, 2013 when the St. Patrick's Day Run for Your Luck event kicks off at 10:00 a.m. on South Potomac Street. The event, which now has approximately 600 preregistered runners, is being held in honor of Dan McDougal, M.D. and benefits the Community Free Clinic of Washington County. Partners in the race are the Washington County Recreation Department and the City of Hagerstown.

"The Community Free Clinic provides free medical care to the uninsured citizens of Washington County, Maryland in order to build a healthier and more productive community," stated Executive Director Robin Roberson. "This race will definitely help our organization, and we are proud to partner with the City of Hagerstown and the Washington County Recreation Department."

The race course is comprised of a single loop on South Potomac Street, W. Memorial Boulevard, Surrey Avenue, Virginia Avenue, City Park Drive, Highland Way, Key Street, South Walnut Street, West Antietam Street, Summit Avenue and West Washington Street (see attached route map). The race will begin and end on the first block of South Potomac Street. Participants can either run or walk. The cost is $30 on race day. The first 700 registrants are guaranteed a t-shirt. There are a number of awards including cash prizes. The award ceremony will be held at the Maryland Theatre.

"This has been a great partnership with the City of Hagerstown and the Community Free Clinic," stated Jaime Dick, Washington County's Recreation Director. "This is a challenging route and an exciting event. It showcases that exercising can be fun and simultaneously helps a good cause."

Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.; opening ceremonies are at 9:45 a.m. and the start of the race is at 10:00 a.m. Mayor Dave Gysberts will officially start the race. Each participant will also receive $5 of City Center Dollars that can be used at participating businesses. Also, downtown establishments will be offering specials to runners who show their race number.

"The City of Hagerstown is proud to be part of this event which will bring over 1,000 individuals to downtown either participating or watching the race," stated Community Affairs Manager Karen Giffin. "We are hoping that participants will use the City Center Dollars and take advantage of the establishments that are offering specials. We would like to thank the Community Free Clinic, Washington County Recreation Department, all City departments, City Center businesses, sponsors, and the runners for making this another reason to visit downtown Hagerstown. We hope to have a safe and successful event on Saturday."