Baltimore to Host National Black Marathoners Association Summit | Sports Destination Management
 

Baltimore to Host National Black Marathoners Association Summit

Share
Sep 17, 2018
Event Will be Held in Conjunction with Baltimore Running Festival

Corrigan Sports Enterprises (CSE) has announced Baltimore will host the 2018 National Black Marathoners Association’s (NBMA) Annual Summit in conjunction with October’s Baltimore Running Festival.

Race organizers anticipate up to 700 NBMA members will participate in the summit and/or running festival. The 18th annual running festival will attract an estimated 23,000 total runners from all 50 states and nearly three dozen countries on October 22nd.

Lee Corrigan, president of CSE, said, “We look forward to working closely with the National Black Marathoners Association in their continued effort to grow minority participation in long distance endurance racing.  We’re honored to host the NBMA Summit because our city is intertwined with some amazing local African American runners who served as trailblazers in the sport.”

Baltimore’s rich African American running history includes NBMA Running Hall of Fame inductee, Marilyn Bevans. Bevans, a Charm City resident, was the first African American woman to run a marathon and won the 1977 and 1979 Maryland Marathons.

Exciting for Visit Baltimore is the fact that the majority of the runner members from the National Black Marathoners Association will be from out of town. The Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel will host the 14th annual NBMA Summit on Oct. 21-22.

The NBMA is the nation’s largest and oldest non-profit organization of African American distance runners. Funds raised from the summit are used to:

  • Provide college scholarships to deserving high school students

  • Certify running coaches

  • Promote distance running and health in underserved communities

  • Recognize the accomplishments of African-American distance runners

According to a study by RESI, an economic research and consulting firm located at Towson University, the Baltimore Running Festival generates an estimated $40 million in annual economic impact. The event has raised more than $12 million for local charities since its inception in 2001.

For more information visit thebaltimoremarathon.com and blackmarathoners.org.

(Click to Expand)