Bay Area Gears Up For Inaugural Oakland Running Festival
Oakland, California (Dec. 18, 2009) –After a 25-year absence, a major marathon will return to the city of Oakland. Corrigan Sports Enterprises (CSE) will bring the inaugural Oakland Running Festival to the City by the Bay March 27-28.
There will be a race for runners of all abilities as CSE plans to pattern the event around the company’s highly successful Baltimore Running Festival. Highlighted by the classic 26.2 marathon distance, the Oakland Running Festival will also consist of a half-marathon, four-person relay, 5K, and kid's fun run.
To ensure runners have the best experience possible the total field size will be limited to only 7,500 total runners. Race officials have limited the field to 1,500 participants in the marathon, 4,000 runners for the half marathon, 1,000 in the 5k and 250 four-person relay teams
CSE President Lee Corrigan said, “This is going to be a great event for this beautiful part of the country. By limiting field size it will help us to better deliver a superior running experience and provide enormous value to our field.”
The twilight 5k race will start at 7 p.m. on March 27th for a sunset run around Oakland’s famous Lake Merritt. The marathon and team relays will begin at8:00 a.m. the following day, while the gun will later sound for the half marathon at 9:45 a.m.
The marathon course will start downtown from City Hall, wind its way up through the gorgeous Claremont area, pass by Joaquin Miller Park, and head back toward downtown. After passing by historic Jack London Square and around Lake Merritt, the finish line will await the pack at Oakland's City Hall.
“We are completely sold that runners will love the event and love the city of Oakland. Northern California is a hotbed for endurance athletes and there is clearly a hole in the running calendar and a real need for a first-class running event in the East Bay Area,” Corrigan said.
CSE is working in concert with City Hall to help promote Oakland as one of the nation’s premier running and tourist destinations. And to keep consistent with the city’s green initiatives, most aspects of the festival will be accomplished through an environmentally conscious effort.
Registration for the event has only been open for one month, yet nearly 25% of the slots have already been filled.
To guarantee your spot in the inaugural Oakland Running Festival, visit www.oaklandmarathon.com.
Questions: (410) 605-9381; customerservice@corrigansports.com