BALTIMORE —

The Baltimore Frontrunners meet on Monday nights at Patterson Park to train, build community and find allies.

The group is the local chapter of a running and walking club for LGBTQIA+ athletes and allies — and it's preparing for the Baltimore Running Festival.

"I ran it for the first time last year. I set the goal to run the half marathon in under two hours, and I came in 10 minutes under that," said Jesus Sanchez.

The Frontrunners began in the 1970s in San Francisco and has since inspired chapters all over the U.S. and internationally.

"It's fun, accepting, a great place to make friends, you just make friends," said Carl Reed, one of the group's first members almost 30 years ago. "It was around 1997, 1998 (when) I was running on my own, looking for others to run with. I

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