March 28, 2023- Baltimore, MD- Corrigan Sports Enterprises (CSE) announced today that Wilmington Police Master Corporal Sarah Bozeman will participate in the Delaware Half Marathon as the official Charity Chaser for the event. Corporal Bozeman will start the event dead last and for every runner she passes, Corrigan Sports and the Delaware Running Festival will donate $2 to a charity supporting public safety professionals and initiatives.
“This is our way of demonstrating our appreciation for the job that the men and women of the Wilmington Police Department do every day in our community. We are excited to add this exciting charity element to the Delaware Running Festival” Lee Corrigan, President of Corrigan Sports Enterprises.
“I couldn’t be more excited to represent the officers of WPD while doing something that I love.” Said Officer Bozeman. “I plan to raise a lot of money and I thank the Delaware Running Festival for this opportunity. Let’s Race!”
“We appreciate the invitation for one of our officers to participate in this wonderful program, and to join runners from around the region and across the country in this beloved race,” said Wilmington Police Chief Wilfredo Campos. “We are also grateful for the support of our community’s first responders.”
The Delaware Running Festival will be held on April 23rd and will include a Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K- all starting and finishing at Tubman Garrett Riverfront Park. To learn more about the Delaware Running Festival, visit here.
About Corrigan Sports Enterprises
Corrigan Sports Enterprises has earned its national reputation by owning and operating some of the largest events in the endurance industry. Founded in 2001, CSE owns and/or operates marquee events such as the Annapolis Running Festival, Baltimore Running Festival, Frederick Running Festival, Baltimore 10-Miler, Ocean City Running Festival, The Bay Bridge Run, and the All-America Lacrosse Classic. For more information visit: www.corrigansports.com.
Thank you so much for participating in the 2022 Delaware Running Festival. We have reviewed the surveys and received some valuable feedback to help us improve some things in the future. Here is our plan:
STAGGERED START: With the addition of the 10K for the first time in 2022, we learned that we need to stagger the start of the Full/Half and the 10K. We understand that the narrowness of some of the route in the first mile or so created some challenges for runners trying to get up to pace. We plan to start the 10K a few minutes later and explore utilizing waves to further spread the crowd.
MORE COURSE MARSHALS: Overall, the updates to the 2022 course were well received. That said, we learned that some areas of the course were confusing to participants. We plan to position additional course marshal volunteers at turns to help runners navigate the route. We will also explore adjustments the course to reduce the number of turns and tricky locations. Most of these are mandated by city police in an attempt to lessen the burden on traffic and to help with police staffing challenges that day.
IMPROVED TRAIL LOGISTICS: Those who ran the full marathon reported that non-participant traffic on the back 13.1 miles of the course caused some challenges during that portion of their run. The Jack Markell Trail is a public path with many access points. That said, we will endeavor to post signs along the route and work with city officials to find way to lessen this traffic on race day.
BETTER PLAN AT START/FINISH: Using the same start and finish line has some great advantages but creates some logistical challenges for set up and traffic flow. We learned that in the morning, we need to open the bike rack to allow additional access points to the start line. Post-race, we need to do a better job of securing the finish shoots to make sure runners can locate the post-race snacks intended for their finish. For reference, the granola bars, fruit, chips and other snacks are separated from the water and Gatorade in part due to the morning line up in the same area. While many runners were able to find the snacks, some runners eager to reunite with family and friends, entered the park earlier than anticipated and missed this location (SEE MAP HERE.)
We certainly appreciate the honest feedback and hope you know that we take your comments to heart. We are always looking to improve our events and getting back to live racing has only invigorated us to continue to create the best and most runner friendly events we can. THANK YOU!
On behalf of the entire Corrigan Sports staff, we thank you for your continued support. After two years of uncertainty, we are thrilled to be bringing the event back to its intended format for its 19th running. We are thrilled that you will be part of this monumental year and can’t wait to host you and your cheering section on race day. Here is our race day schedule:
Sunday, April 24, 2022 (Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park)
Bag Check Opens at 6am-1pm
Opening Remarks & Final Instructions will occur at 6:45am
National Anthem will be sung at 6:55am
Full, Half-Marathon & 10K Start together at 7:00am
5k Starts at 7:20am (NOTE NEW TIME)
5k Awards Ceremony will be held at 8:30am
Full, Half-Marathon/Relay Awards Ceremonywill be held at 11:00am
Celebration Village Activities will take place from 8am-2pm
Runner tracking will be available on race day, allowing spectators to follow friends and family by receiving real-time text message updates and splits. You can electronically track multiple runners on the course by searching for the athlete name on the website below. Updates will be received as runners cross the various checkpoints, as well as once they cross the finish line.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR TRACKING
FULL MARATHON RACE SHIRTS
HALF MARATHON RACE SHIRTS
10K RACE SHIRTS
5K RACE SHIRTS
Corrigan Sports announced today the permanent addition of the 10K distance to the Delaware Running Festival!
The team relay has been phased out to accommodate the new 10K distance, but relay participants from previous years are encouraged to form a social team. Social teams allow runners of all distances to partner up and earn discounts and other benefits. Learn more about social teams here.
In addition to and Under Armour race shirt, and participants will earn their inspiration coin medal. Participants are encouraged to keep their medal for themselves and share the magnetic coin with some who inspired them along their Delaware RunFest journey.
Learn more about the new 10K distance here.
Note: All relay team deferment information from 2020 and 2021 will be sent to the captains of the relay teams. If you are needing further assistance please email customer service at [email protected]
Corrigan Sports Aims to Celebrate the Participant’s Entire Journey and Those Who Helped Them Get to the Starting Line
A tradition that started in 2020 continues this year with finishers of the Delaware Running Festival receiving a medal that contains a removable Inspiration Coin. Participants are encouraged to keep their medal for themselves and share the magnetic coin with some who inspired them along their Delaware RunFest journey. Past participants have shared their coin with a training partner, a mentor, a friend or family member.
“We know it takes a lot of commitment from the participants and their support group to get them to race day, said Lee Corrigan, President of Corrigan Sports. This is a small way to celebrate your entire journey and those who help you get there.”
The idea behind the design was inspired by long time Corrigan Sports supporter Sid Busch. Sid is Navy veteran and runs selflessly on behalf of fallen soldiers. Sid presents the medal he earns to the soldier’s family. Further there are long-honored military traditions where Challenge coins are shared and traded among units. Our Delaware medal melds these two concepts together.
In concept, the medal is the participant’s to keep and display proudly. The Inspiration Coin is meant to be paid forward to a person or group who helped inspire the participant to achieve their life goals, such as running the race.
The 2022 Delaware Running Festival will be held April 24. In Wilmington, Del. The race offers a marathon, half-marathon, 5k and, for the first time, a 10k. This race is one of the few opportunities for aspiring members of the various 50-State running clubs to run in Delaware. Registration is open now.
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