MARATHON RESULTS: Americans captured the marathon title for the first time in the 13-year history of the Baltimore Marathon. David Berdan, a 32-year-old science teacher from Owings Mills, led wire-to-wire to earn the men’s marathon crown with a time of 2:30:06. Elizabeth Perry from Pittsburgh won the women’s division after crossing the finish line in 2:58:01. She pulled away from second place finisher Julia Roman-Duval with several miles remaining.
INSPIRATION: The marathon began at 8am after inspirational words from honorary starter Erika Brannock, a local pre-school teacher who was the last survivor to leave the hospital after the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15. Brannock said, “You can do this, and you will do this” prior to blowing an air horn and sending the field off. She also held the finish line tape as the marathon champions crossed the line outside of M&T Bank Stadium on October 12th.
FIELD & CONDITIONS: The annual Baltimore Running Festival consisted of a total field size of nearly 27,000 runners who competed in the marathon, CareFirst Half Marathon, Legg Mason Team Relay, ShopRite 5K or Transamerica Kids Fun Run under cloudy skies, occasional drizzle and temperatures that hovered around 60 degrees with little wind. CHARITY: Robbie Thompson from Ernst & Young raised $14,310 for Back on My Feet as the marathon’s charity chaser. Thompson started last in a field of 3,294 marathon starters and finished in 433rd place overall (gun time). Running Festival organizers Corrigan Sports Enterprises donated $5 to the charity for every runner Thompson beat to the marathon finish line. Overall the event is expected to generate $2 million for local charities.
WORLD RECORD: The fun was not only restricted to the course. Applesauce company Musselman’s set a new world record for the largest bowl of applesauce. Runners and fans dumped 716 pounds of applesauce into a giant bowl located in the DSW Celebration Village.
MEDIA: WBAL-TV covered the marathon live with five hours of coverage on race day and witnessed new ratings marks. The local NBC affiliate saw its ratings spike 14% higher than last year.
Next year’s Baltimore Running Festival will take place on Saturday, October 18th.