Overview The Baltimore Running Festival is the city's fall race day, a marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K that all finish on Pratt Street at the Inner Harbor, and the marathon runs through the Maryland Zoo, past the penguins. Runners who want more can do the Balti-MORON-a-thon, the 5K and then the half on the same morning for an extra medal; runners who want less can do the .05K. There is a virtual version of each distance. Corrigan Sports Enterprises, the Maryland event company behind the Baltimore Ten Miler, produces it. On site In 2025 the 5K went off at 7:30 from McKeldin Square, the marathon and 10K at 8 beside the Brooks Robinson statue outside Camden Yards, and the half at 9:30 from Pratt and Calvert, where a live band plays the start. The marathon takes in Federal Hill, Fells Point, Druid Hill Park and Lake Montebello; the hardest climbing comes between miles 16 and 20, and the last five miles run mostly downhill to the harbor. Every finisher gets a medal. Past the finish line the Celebration Village runs live music, games, sponsor and vendor stands, food and drink. Audience The field travels: the 2024 festival drew runners from 47 states and 19 countries. Part of the field runs for a charity: through Run For A Cause, runners sign on with a nonprofit, train in its program and raise money for it. Track record The first festival in 2001 had about 6,500 finishers. It peaked at more than 24,000 runners in 2014 and drew more than 13,000 participants in 2024. The 2025 edition marked 25 years with confetti and a commemorative shirt. By 2026 the festival counted 384,263 lifetime registrants. Brand presence Sponsor and vendor stands sit in the Celebration Village past the finish line, where every runner ends up. Under Armour backed the race from its early years, and radio station 98 Rock presented the .05K in 2026. Baltimore's WBAL has carried the race on live local television.