kate amara joins us live with more. good morning, kate. >> good morning, lisa. the they'marathon is 26.2 miles. the marathon starts at 8:00 this morning half marathon is at 9:45. i want to show you what the starting line looks like right now. we are actually here on the starting line. one of the most amazing things that core gorigan courts does i they sweep in and the street goes from basically nothing. cars are driving down the street and in about 15 minutes they will have the start line assembled, the balloon banner and over here, this is a special edition addition this year, the baltimore city firefighter's union has made it possible to hang a gigantic american flag over the starting line. it will be suspended from two ladder druks. not on -- ladder trucks. not only the amazing start the cheers you go under the balloon banner, but you will be going under the american flag as well. it will be a great moment for those runners. one other thing that we need to talk about is the weather. it's very important for a runner running 26 miles to be prepared. they will b

jerry sandusky, kate amara with you. the running of the baltimore festival by the official name. no title sponsor which means we won't have the elite runners. we still have as many runners as we have had in recent years. 27,000 taking part in this festival. >> 27,000 overall, 5,000 for the full marathon, 13,000 for the half marathon that has grown expediential ly the last few year. they call the 5 k the gate ray race. you try the 5 k you try a different event the next year. >> there's an appetite for running in this town. the baltimore fire department making a big splash with a huge american flag as they greet the runners at the start line and go 22.6 miles around this course and a very special starter erika brannock. >> the last boston marathon survivor to leave the hospital. she is the official starter. it was important to her to prove to herself she can face the things that scare her. >> the wheelchair competitors will be the first to get the race underway. then the field of 5,000 marathoners several thousand as part of relay teams beginning at 8:00. we will be with you throug

. >> that was kate amara. the russians know how to spy and how to get people to space.nd tunnel effect that took out the flame over the weekend. the flame went out again. each time a man lit the flame back to life. the winter all and thanks gets underway in february in sochi. if there was a cuteness competition, these guys would get into it. pandas wentborn outdoors to enjoy some sunshine. they have a pretty low earth rate in the wild and in captivity. they are adorable. >> right in a line. 5:51. the ravens get reinforcements in their receiving corps this week. >> which whiteouts are back. >> time for traffic and weather together on the 1's. >> the trains are rolling well. you may find some delays around a couple of accident locations. route 32 at river road is the most recent accident. lane closures at pennington and aspen street. 64 miles per hour on southbound 83. traffic up to speed at greenspring towards the j.f.x. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> good morning. a little bit of cloud cover to start the day. we will see some sunshine. it will be much cooler

. >> and i'm kate amara. will the wet weather stick around as the weekend approaches? f meteorologist tom tasselmyer is in the weather center with the answer. hi, tom. >> hi, kate. it looks like the rain will stick around. is not the heaviest rain we saw. there is rain falling, steady rain. you can see on hd doppler -- the yellows and oranges indicate moderate to heavy rain. there is more to come because the center of the storm system is way down over eastern carolina and it's going to take a while for the system to make its way all the way up the eastern seaboard and out to sea. not sunday or more like monday before we break out from underneath this slow-moving storm. the details in just a few minutes. >> thank you, tom. you can track conditions were ever you are with our smartphone app. you can also get the most up-to- date conditions and radar on our website, wbaltv.com.