Closing the Door on 2018!
Dear Runners:
The 2018 Baltimore Running Festival is officially behind us. As we have done since year one, we have reviewed the participant survey and appreciate all those who took the time to complete it. We take the post-race suggestions very seriously and use them to improve the event from year to year.
What a difference a year makes! We learned a lot after the 2017 event and were able to improve on most of our shortcomings that occurred with the move of venue to the Inner Harbor. However, there are still things to learn and improve on.
RUNNERS ONLY COMPOUND– This year we expanded the space within the Runner’s Only Compound to include the grassy areas of McKeldin Square. That area was a big help and would have been even better utilized had it been drier. We will continue to tweak this area to offer additional entry points for the relay runners and explore added signage to get runners to where they want to go before and after exiting this area.
BEER DISTRIBUTION– This process was much improved over 2017. We added more distribution points for Dogfish Head beer in Westshore Park and expanded the location near Rash Field as well. While there were still lines (there are 30,000+ people there that day!), they moved much more efficiently than in the past. Also handing the beer wristbands out with the bibs sped the process at the expo. We did run out of wristbands at the expo on Friday evening which will be fixed for the future. We also know having three beer choices and two wine options is tough so we will continue to encourage runners to make that decision before they get to the front of the line.
WAVE STARTS FOR HALF & 5K- The addition of a wave start to the 5K was well received and helped tremendously. While we realize the construction on Key Highway created some problems, we anticipate that project to be completed prior to 2019. We did uncover an error when assigning Half-Marathon waves this year. Our mid-year switch of registration partners caused some data issues that were not caught until after the race. This will be corrected for 2019. We will also make a concerted effort to educate runners about the wave process and encourage compliance.
2019 will mark the third year of an Inner Harbor finish. With more familiarity of the area, both from our operational standpoint and through repeat participants, we believe that everyone will become more comfortable with the flow within and around the event.
Once again, we thank you for your participation, support and feedback on the Baltimore Running Festival. We hope that we have shown you that your opinions and suggestions are a part of our yearly event improvement plan and that we are committed to creating a fun and friendly race for everyone that gets better each and every year. This year 95% of you who participated in the survey reported that you would recommend our event. We appreciate your vote of confidence.
We hope to see you again next year as we run the 19th Annual Baltimore Running Festival on October 19, 2019!
Sincerely Yours,
Lee Corrigan
