Pittsburgh Marathon

 Yesterday, I (and 25,000 of my closest friends) participated in the Pittsburgh Marathon. I did a relay with Tara (my friend from teaching) and some of her friends. I had leg 4, but then I also ran leg 5 with Tara, totaling 11 miles. I'm so glad I ran the last leg, as well, because it was really neat to cross the finish line! I have done smaller races, but doing something huge like the Pittsburgh marathon is an incredible experience. There are people lining the streets for 26.2 miles, cheering, clapping, ringing cowbells, and spraying water for the runners, a must for the extremely hot and sunny day. The runners have their names on their front bibs, so spectators would cheer and call out my name as I ran past. There were bands and DJs all along the route, making for a really fun atmosphere. As I was waiting at the exchange for the runner before me to arrive, I got to see the Kenyan man who ended up winning pass by. He was well ahead of everyone else, and he must have received the loudest cheers of anyone the whole way through the finish. He finished in something like 2 hrs, 15 min, which means he ran 26.2 miles at an average of 5 minutes per mile - incredible! Hopefully his $8,000 prize was worth the pain.  After doing this race, I am really excited to run the Cleveland half marathon on May 20th! Less than 2 weeks to go!

Before the race

The starting line - what it looks like for 25,000 people beginning a race