Pittsburg Half Marathon
Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
Sunday, May 15, 2011

It drizzled the entire time that I race walked the Pittsburg Half Marathon in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 15, 2011. The temperature remained nearly a steady 63 degrees with little wind. The Marathon and Half marathon had 18000 entries and were very well organized. Jeff Galloway was at the prerace exposition. Surprisingly the half marathon was relatively flat with some gradual up and down sections despite the area around Pittsburg being quite hilly. The roads were completely closed to traffic and were controlled by plenty of police and fire officers. Water/Gatorade stations were located every 2 miles until mile 10 and were located every mile afterwards and were manned by plenty of enthusiastic volunteers. Despite the rain there were live bands playing, sheltered by tents, spaced approximately every mile. Spectators were quite numerous along the route, ignoring the rainy conditions and encouraging the participants. There several elite athletes who met the Olympic qualifying standards because there was quite a bit of prize money given to the top 5 men and women in each event. Another surprise occurred in the men’s marathon as the rabbit ended up the winner. In spite of the drizzle I enjoyed my trip to Pittsburg.