Saturday's 26th annual Baltimore Running Festival delivered a hometown result and a last-second upset.

According to WBAL-TV, Devin Horseman-Guy, a 27-year-old Baltimore native, won the men's full marathon, pulling away from 45-year-old Patrick Blair of Catonsville past the halfway mark and never looking back.

On the women's side, WBAL-TV reports that Nicole Shelton, 27, of Morristown, New Jersey, overtook 25-year-old Meave Thistel of Lancaster, Pennsylvania — who had led for much of the race — near the Pratt Street turn and won in a dramatic close finish.

The Baltimore Banner, which covered the festival live, framed the day as one of fast finishes, hometown pride and plenty of excitement across Charm City.

What makes Horseman-Guy's win the story a devoted running fan would talk about is that he trained on the very course he conquered. WBAL-TV quotes him saying he lives in the city and trained there all year, calling the course his backyard.

He credits specific preparation on Baltimore's signature hills, telling the outlet he spent all summer training on the exact climb featured on the route and pushing himself with the mantra that once you get to the top, you get downhill.

That kind of course-specific homework turning into a hometown marathon title is exactly the detail locals repeated all afternoon — The Baltimore Banner's live coverage made his victory the headline of its festival wrap.

The women's race provided the reversal of the day. WBAL-TV reports that Meave Thistel controlled the lead for nearly the entire marathon before Shelton, running with what she described as all she had left in the tank, caught her with roughly a half-mile to go.

Shelton told WBAL-TV she didn't expect it at all, realizing only in the final mile that first place was directly in front of her, and admitted afterward that the win hadn't fully sunk in yet. She recalled calculating mid-race that if Thistel tried to sprint to the finish, she would be caught.

For a race that had seemed decided for miles, the Pratt Street turn became the upset moment of the festival.

The stakes were citywide.

Baltimore City's Department of Transportation said approximately 15,000 runners were expected for the 26th annual festival, which also featured the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Half-Marathon, the Royal Farms 5K and the apgfcu 10K, with the marathon starting at 8:00 a.m. from Paca and Camden Streets and all courses closing at 3:00 p.m.

WBAL-TV put the actual turnout at more than 14,900 runners from across the country and the world.

The transportation department also warned that Disney on Ice shows at CFG Bank Arena compounded downtown congestion, giving the day's crowd energy an extra lift — and the finishing straight on Pratt Street between Charles and Light Streets was kept clear until the event cleared late Saturday afternoon.

The results set up storylines that Baltimore's running community will carry into next year.

WBAL-TV notes that Horseman-Guy credited the crowd down the closing stretch — the screaming spectators who, in his words, were going to get him to the finish line — while run groups like A Tribe Called Run stationed themselves around Mile 24 to push exhausted runners through the wall.

The outlet also spotlit local figures in the field, including WBAL-TV's Breana Ross and WBAL NewsRadio's Robert Lang in the 10K, and veteran marathoner Sid Busch, who has completed more than 200 marathons.

With a hometown champion, a last-half-mile women's upset and a 26th edition in the books, the festival's narrative momentum is squarely with the city's own runners.