Baker & Daniels Sponsoring Half Marathon in Fort-4-Fitness Festival

Baker & Daniels LLP is again supporting and participating in the Fort-4-Fitness Festival on September 25-26 at Parkview Field. This year, the firm is sponsoring the half marathon, the longest running event in the festival that promotes healthy living and fitness in Northeast Indiana.

The field for the half marathon and four-mile run/walk were filled more than five weeks before race day, with more than 5,000 runners and walkers registered to participate on Saturday morning. The kid's marathon will finish Friday night, with 300 children expected to cross the same finish as the half marathon and four-mile participants.

"Baker & Daniels is excited about and committed to the communities where we work, live and enjoy," said Jon Bomberger, a partner at Baker & Daniels and volunteer on the Fort-4-Fitness leadership team. "We're proud to support the Fort-4-Fitness Festival and actively participate in activities that focus on developing and maintaining healthy lifestyles."

Baker & Daniels lawyers, staff and families are again planning to man a volunteer water station during the Fort-4-Fitness running events. Last year, 15 of the runners they aided were Baker & Daniels colleagues who participated in the half marathon or four-mile run/walk. This year's 13.1-mile race will start in front of the historic Baker Street Station in downtown Fort Wayne and finish at Parkview Field, the city's new downtown baseball stadium. The course will take runners through historic Fort Wayne neighborhoods, Foster Park and past landmark churches.

Last year, Baker & Daniels' Fort Wayne office presented Matthew 25 with a cash donation and in-kind items worth approximately $2,000 after their support and participation in the first Fort-4-Fitness weekend. The firm's collaboration with the 2008 fall festival began as a gold corporate sponsor. As interest and excitement spread throughout the firm, participation grew to include lawyers, staff and their families. In the end, the effort expanded to raising money and gathering in-kind items for Matthew 25, a local nonprofit organization that provides free medical, dental and vision services to uninsured, low-income residents of Allen County.

Fort-4-Fitness also features health care and fitness exhibitors, as well as a Healthy Food Expo and live music. U.S. Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana will again serve as the honorary chair of the festival, and Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry will be the official starter for Saturday's races.

Fort-4-Fitness, Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization committed to promoting healthy living and fitness in Northeast Indiana. For more information on Fort-4-Fitness, visit www.fort-4-fitness.org.