Baltimore Running Festival to bring major traffic modifications Saturday
The 25th annual Baltimore Running Festival will take place Saturday, bringing widespread road closures, parking restrictions and commercial vehicle limitations across downtown Baltimore.
More than 14,000 runners are expected to participate in this year's event, the city said.
"It's a lot of fun. I think it's the most exciting day of the year in Baltimore, everybody has good energy, everybody is positive, chatty, and the weather is good tomorrow," Vallia Cilli, a Fed Hill resident, said.
Pratt Street will be fully closed to traffic from Charles Street to Light Street beginning at 9 p.m. Friday. Some lane closures along Light Street were already underway as of Friday evening.
Several parking restrictions will also go into effect starting Friday night.
The races are scheduled to begin at various times and locations between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday.
Drivers should anticipate traffic stops and significant delays. City officials advise planning alternate routes outside the racecourse, specifically:
- North of 33rd Street
- South of McComas Street
- West of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
- East of Highland Avenue
Public transportation is strongly recommended.
The full list of road closures and restrictions is available on the Baltimore City Department of Transportation website.
"...what better place to do it than in Baltimore?"
The energy was high on Friday night as runners picked up their bibs at the Inner Harbor and got a feel for the course.
"It seems like a beautiful city to walk through and run through, so it looks like it'll be a good day tomorrow," said Paige Ottavaino, a Pittsburgh resident participating in the race.
"I've been training a good bit; it's finally game day tomorrow, and what better place to do it than in Baltimore?" another runner said.
On the other hand, nerves were running high.
"I'm excited, I'm kind of nervous, I've never run this much before," said Rishab, a UMD student.
"Honestly, I'm just looking forward to finishing it," another runner added. "It's been a lot of training."
The race will be followed by a celebration at the Inner Harbor.
"It's a fun finish because you get to dwell here for a while, so you get to celebrate the finish," said Matt Cilli.
Weekend activities in Baltimore
A couple of blocks away, thousands of people will also be in town for Comic Con at the Convention Center.
"I've been coming to comic cons for quite a while now. I have fun. I meet new people. People are always so nice about my cosplays, and cosplay has been a hobby of mine for so long, it's just a place where I can really be myself, you know?" said Sal Jarrold.
Meanwhile, a No Kings protest will also overlap the race and Comic Con on Saturday. Organizers say they'll be marching in Baltimore to express opposition to President Trump's policies.
