Frederick Running Festival To Take Place This Weekend

It was postponed from last year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frederick, Md (KM) The annual Frederick Running Festival returns this weekend after a one-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lee Corrigan, the President of Corrigan Sports, which puts on puts on the event, spoke about that during a news conference on Wednesday. “Obviously, we’ve all had a challenging year. We’re excited to be back here; to bring a sense of normalcy to our lives,” he said. “And this event is one of those things that hopefully makes everybody feel that life is returning to normal.”

Mayor Michael O’Connor had similar remarks. “We all watched this public health crisis, and we didn’t know when it was going to end. And that’s a really hard thing to plan for,” he said. “But everybody who so worked to hard to get us to where we are today deserves recognition.”

The Running Festival kicks off on Saturday, July 10th, at the Fairgrounds with live music on the Main State from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. The Kids Fun Run takes place at 4:00 PM, with the 5K at 5:00 PM. An awards ceremony begins at 6:00 PM. On Sunday, July 11th,  a Sunrise  Service is scheduled  near Building 2 at 5:45 AM. Then there are opening remarks at 6:15 AM, and the Half-Marathon starts at 6:30 AM in front of the Fairgrounds on East Patrick Street. An awards ceremony will take place at 8:30 AM.

The half-marathon route starts at the entrance to the Fairgrounds, and travels down East Street past Harry Grove Stadium on Stadium Drive. Runners will then go through downtown Frederick on Market Street, turn on to 6th Street and then to Bentz Street alongside Baker Park. They’ll run past Hood College to 16th Street, Schifferstadt Boulevard to Monroe Avenue and back into the Fairgrounds. They finish line is located in front of the Grandstand.

The City anticipates about 4,000 runners and their families will be coming to Frederick this coming weekend. Economic Development Director Richard Griffin says the Running Festival has a $3-and-a-half-million impact on the local economy, according to Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute. “For others from outside the region, they come; they eat, they drink; they shop; they race’ they leave;’ they spend a lot. We like that,” he says.

Griffin also says these people also spread  the word about Frederick. “They wear their gear all over the United States and abroad. They tweet. They post. They share their experiences about Frederick on a multitude of social media platforms about what great markets  Frederick is to visit, live, work, play and invest,” he says.

The City says the Running Festival will bring additional vehicular traffic, along with pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The public will see a significant police presence all along the route with additional traffic  control devices such as cones, barricades, traffic signs and variable message boards.

Motorists should expect delays and plan for additional time to get to their destinations.

If you see anything suspicious, you’re urged to contact Frederick Police by calling 911.

 

 

By Kevin McManus