Every year, thousands of runners hit the streets of Baltimore for the Baltimore 10-Miler. It’s an annual rite of passage for central Maryland’s running community.
The 9th Baltimore 10-Miler will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. ABC2 News will be broadcasting live on air and online from 7 to 10 a.m.
Here are 10 things you may not have known about the Baltimore 10-Miler.
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Defending men’s champion Dave Berdan’s bib number has a story behind it. Berdan’s bib number 1876 represents the year the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore—in Druid Hill Park, where the course begins and ends—was founded. This year, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield is donating $2 for every runner Berdan beats to the finish line.
One of the Zoo’s cheetahs could beat Berdan. Cheetahs, one of the fastest animals in the world, can run in short bursts up to 60 miles per hour. That means they would be done with the B-10 in about 10 minutes.
One of the penguins would not. Jane Ballentine, spokeswoman for the zoo, said penguins can waddle about a mile per hour, so they would take about 10 hours to complete the race. (Too bad it’s not a swim meet—the penguins can swim about 12 miles an hour.)
Runners will tackle hills, hills and more hills. The Baltimore 10-Miler is a hilly and challenging course, with more than a dozen uphill climbs. The worst of it comes at the very end, at mile nine, which follows a steep incline into Druid Hill Park.
The course goes lake to lake. Runners start off in the park, where Druid Lake is, and run out to Lake Montebello before turning around and heading back to the finish.
The race raises big money for charities. The Baltimore 10-Miler this year is raising money for the Signal 13 Foundation, Girls on the Run, The Mark Ragonese Family Trust (Relay for Rags), YouthWorks, B’More for Healthy Babies and The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Race officials estimate raising a combined $40,000 for these charities.
Baltimore’s police commissioner will be trying to beat as many people as he can. Commissioner Kevin Davis will receive $4 for every runner he passes, to be donated to Signal 13.
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2016 finishers get a zoo-themed medal. This is the first year finishers will get a medal, which will feature African penguins.
The Baltimore 10-Miler is part of the King Crab challenge. Runners who ran the half-marathon at the Frederick Run Fest, the Baltimore 10-Miler and either the half-marathon or the full marathon at the Baltimore Running Festival in October will receive special medals and other swag.
The race is Corrigan Sports Enterprise’s second-largest event. 5,000 runners tackle the B-10 every year. It’s second only to the Baltimore Running Festival, with a whopping 25,000 runners participating in four races—a 5K, a half-marathon, a full marathon and a marathon relay.
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