Photo by Sam Yu Stephanie Kramer, left, of New Market, picks up her Frederick Marathon T-shirt Saturday at the Frederick Fairgrounds. Helping is volunteer Sarah Matthews.

The festival began Saturday night when about 1,500 people entered The Gazette 5K run. That was several hundred more than race officials anticipated.

The festival will continue today with the marathon, half marathon and team relay.

Today's races are scheduled to begin at 6:30 a.m. at the Frederick Fairgrounds.

Race director Rachel Ridgway said last week that about 1,000 people will take part in the marathon, about the same as last year. The half-marathon is expected to draw about 2,900 runners, about 900 more than a year ago. There are about 175 teams in the team relay.

Race organizers expect some runners to sign up today.

"I imagine a lot of people want to see what the weather is like," Ridgway said.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 50s with a 50 percent chance of rain when the races begin.

Participants will be coming from four countries: the United States, Canada, Austria and Costa Rica.

Competitors will also represent 40 states, with about two-thirds coming from Maryland.

Nine runners are expected from California, two from Washington state and one from Hawaii.

There will be more than 500 volunteers on hand.

"They do it out of the goodness of their hearts and a T-shirt," Ridgway said.

The only defending champion returning is Adam Sierkowski of Perry Hall, who won the half-marathon last year.

Top marathon runners include Dickson Mercer, who was second in Frederick in 2006, and Denise Knickman, who was eighth in the 2008 Baltimore Marathon.

Gabriela Trana, an Olympian from Costa Rica, is expected to challenge the women's event half-marathon record of 1:21.55. Her personal best for a half-marathon is 1:19.48.

The male event record for the marathon is 2:26.42, set by Michael Wardian in 2006. The female record is 2:56.14, set by Melissa Tanner in 2008.

"You never know about records," Ridgway said. "The guy that won it last year (Brian Baillie in 2:34.48) came out of nowhere."

There have been some minor course changes. For instance, because of construction, race organizers had to make some changes around Frederick High School and Frederick Municipal Airport. The race will also start on East Patrick Street in front of the fairgrounds.

At the request of the police, organizers have also changed the course so the ramp from I-70 to South Street will not be closed. They have added some distance in Spring Ridge.

"We made a lot of changes. Some look small and some look big," Ridgway said. "But the distance is accurate, I'll stake my life on that."

This is the second year the event has started and finished at the fairgrounds. In the past, the race started and ended at Harry Grove Stadium.

"The runners like the new venue quite a bit," she said. "There is plenty of parking, which is always a good thing, and plenty of bathrooms, which is even better."

She said most runners don't even mind the hills around Spring Ridge.

"They say the hills are tough, but they still ran their best ever," she said.

Awards ceremonies will begin at 9:30 a.m. today. There will be an 11 a.m. kids run.