We apparently won the first place in the mixed male+female category. As if tis wasn't enough, we beat all teams in the relay. But before fulfilling my duties in the last leg of the relay (starting around mile 22), I moved around the marathon course and took pictures of this incredible event.
Marathon Start
It was a great, sunny, and moderately chilly morning to finish some long miles. Another 27000 runners probably thought the same. I came downtown to witness them smiling in the face of inevitable suffering. |
| The starting gate 30 minutes before the race. |
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| Restrooms are always in demand 20 minutes to the start. |
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| Is this a pair of goggles to stress the catching up runners? |
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| I didn't know runners synchronized in lifting and stretching their legs. |
The sun rose high enough shortly before 7am, coloring the gate area in gold, as it should be in Pittsburgh.
Wheelchair division usually starts with 6-10 min handicap in front of the runners. This year there was also a blind guy running a marathon with a partner tied to him with an elastic cord -- this sounds super-tough.
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| The wheelchairs are running wild. |
At last they let the runners go. That was one huge exciting moment of the day.
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| Red shoes dominate. |
Take a look at another start video shot from a news helicopter.
Walnut St at Mile 14
From the start I took a shuttle to my relay exchange. But instead of just sitting there I jogged to Walnut St. to witness the leaders (a wise idea via Hans).So this is how it works:
- At first you're just waiting for the leading runners to arrive, listening to this Mexican band playing something the least relatable to running (they are visibly skillful though). They continue doing this as runners pass by.
- Then an official marathon car goes in the front. I subconsciously liked its design the day before, when I met it at a traffic light in downtown.
- A couple of cop bikes pass by with their blinkers on (so that nobody thinks of stealing the cool car?).
- A completely unattractive truck with cameramen inside goes next. Eeeww.
- The leading pack comes after the truck, finally. They all like red jerseys and run well.
That's what it's like to be a spectator at a marathon. I'll keep this in mind.
Relay Exchange #4 at Mile 22.
After taking a look at the leaders at mile 14, I got back to my relay exchange. So (last) relay exchanges look like a lot of people bored out of their minds, most of them not very invested in this whole thing. [I feel like referencing the relay course map now]
The relay runners were mildly entertained by the same cortege...
...and the race leader...
... and Steve and me executing out super-duper relay exchange that saved our team 0.7 seconds, leaving mere 2:31:46 (to verify this go to http://live.xacte.com/
It's a strange relay where you don't pass a baton forward; rather, you pass a medal backward. This way everyone ends up with a medal in all parts of the course, and you don't need to carry anything while running. Smart, huh.
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| One |
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| Two |
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| Three |
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| Done: Steve has a medal, and I can take off. |
Then my ~4.5 mile leg ensued. It was downhill and a bit painful, but very cheerful.
The relay caused me a minor embarrassment through. Every time I ran through crowds of spectators, they were cheering loudly assuming I was a marathoner and ran so energetically and wasteful of energy, with my usual wobbly form. Then I pass by and they see I'm running a relay and gasp loudly, "ahh that was relay." Kinda disappointing.
Once I finished I was very serious for no apparent reason.
Misc
To finish this post let me present you with:- A charming view of Pittsburgh the day before the race.
- A 2013 poster of Pittsburgh Marathon. It is has an engineering theme (made after blueprints of the West End bridge) and has colors that match the way it feels to run through Pittsburgh in the heat.
- a Dailymile widget (on blogspot in the right column) that shows my future big races. Its style is screwed up, but at least now you know what I'm planning long-term. This was formed as a reaction to people trying to confirm that I wasn't in the Boston marathon.
Update 1: relay results got fixed http://results.active.com/events/dicks-sporting-goods-pittsburgh-marathon/relay
Update 2: my pace was 5:38 per mile. I'm ok with this for a B race.
Update 3: wait, the website indicates that my leg was 4.7 miles. So this makes a 5:24 pace. Sweet.
Update 4: video with me breaking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2YScKv3XjE
Update 5: me crossing the finish line
Update 6. Each team member got a trophy.
Update, March 2014: Pittsburgh Marathon decided I'm a good accomplishment model to use for the upcoming race:
Great pictures! I would love to run the Pittsburgh marathon. I am actually planning a trip to Pittsburgh so I have been checking out the weather map for Pittsburgh. There are so many things to do it Pittsburgh, I will be really upset if it starts to rain while I am there. Is this marathon held every year? I am going to have to look up more information on this, it sounds like so much fun. Thanks so much for sharing Ivan.
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