Frederick Running Festival Finds New Life

This past Saturday, about 6,800 runners took to the streets of Frederick for the annual Frederick Running Festival.  The festival included a half-marathon, a team relay, a Mid-Day 5K and a Kid’s Fun Run.  This year the festival received a bit of a face lift by race organizers.  All events were run on Saturday and the start time was pushed up by a half hour.  The idea behind this was to make the event more convenient to the runners and their families.  It also allowed out-of-town participants more time to recuperate and spend at restaurants and shops in Frederick.

The biggest change to the Frederick Running Festival was the elimination of the marathon portion of the event. The reasoning behind this was to capitalize on the popularity of the half-marathon distance. The half-marathon course was also given a bit of a makeover this year, with overall course improvements and more time spent in the historic downtown district of Frederick. Organizers said that the improvements helped in maintaining the safety of all the racers. In addition to the revamped course, an increase was made to the cash purse and various prizes.