After completing one last climb in the Baltimore Running Festival Oct. 21, as many as 15,000 thousand runners will be rewarded with a glimpse of a spiritual landmark.
For years, the event concluded down Eutaw Street, with the finish line between M&T Bank Stadium and Oriole Park, which left the event at the mercy of the Baltimore Orioles’ postseason possibilities.
Now it will finish on Pratt Street, at the Inner Harbor. The last two miles are south on Maryland Avenue and then Cathedral Street, which means that 4,000 marathoners, 10,000 half-marathoners and another 1,200 people anchoring four-person relay teams will have about six-tenths of a mile remaining when they pass the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The very last hill on an up-and-down course, Cathedral Street between Centre and Franklin Streets, is in the block just north of America’s First Cathedral.
With an 8 a.m. start, marathon contenders will pass the Baltimore Basilica around 10:20 a.m. They include two-time champion Dave Berdan, the cross country coach at Stevenson University, whose children attend Sacred Heart School in Glyndon.
From then until early afternoon, there will be a steady stream of humanity, thanks to marathoners, half-marathoners and relay runners.
The event is organized by Corrigan Sports Enterprises, which is headed by Lee Corrigan, a parishioner of St. Louis in Clarksville.
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