I got down early to catch the first marathoners in the wheelchair division. It was a perfect day for a marathon.
There was a street sweeper operating at the intersection of Highland and Bryant when I got down. I knew the wheelchair participants started about 6:45 AM and I calculated when they’d arrive at almost mile twenty down the bottom of our hill. I didn’t have too long to wait.
When I witness their effort, a catch forms in my throat. It’s inspiring. Accompanied by a bicycle escort, they “run” the course with determination and hard work.
I am dividing the post into galleries. The first shots I stood across the street from the local coffee shop – Tazza D’Oro.
DICK’S Sporting Goods flew about 3 dozen marathoners to Pittsburgh from Boston so they could run the marathon. These runners were ones who were unable to complete the marathon due to the attacks.
There were thousands of runners today for the Pittsburgh Marathon so this is just a small sampling of the day. Perfect weather!
Here’ s the first gallery-
The Wheelchair Participants
The lead runners just flew by, almost effortlessly (well, it seemed easy watching them) Soooo fast. So smooth.
There were lots of dogs in attendance today.
And then there were the fun runners, the monkey, the man with the trumpet.bugle?, the guy in a kilt and sandals, women wearing tutus who were texting, and some wild hair and outfits. Many patriotic displays and one guy running backwards. A man wore a Chicago Runs for Boston shirt.
One man ran the whole marathon blindfolded, tethered to a co-runner. He did this to raise awareness and to experience what his 7 year old daughter must experience in life- she’s legally blind. To read about his efforts click here and another article about this father’s running the entire marathon blindfolded- here
A few more runners
And all the volunteers and the workers who made it all possible
The street sweepers, the garbage collectors, the police, the paramedics, the course marshals, the volunteers who passed out water and picked up the cups from the course. The bus who came to sweep up the runners who needed to ride for the remainder of the course. All photos shot with a 70-200mm Canon L series lens on Canon 5D SLR camera
And the partiers, the cheering section, and as neighbor Mike coined the term the CHAIR-ATHONERS. for further coverage you can go to the Post-Gazette
Totally and completely uplifting and inspiring blog Ruth! Congratulations on sharing the visions of so many!
WONDERFUL! I would say you captured the marathon beautifully. A great day in Pittsburgh! Perfect temp., perfect crowds and over 27,000 runners. Are those red seats from the torn down Civic Arena?
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Three Rivers Stadium seats but auctioned off at the Civic Arena.
They belong to a friend.
Great items to have!
I enjoyed the entire collection start to finish. I was touched to read your list crediting all those people who make large undertakings like this a reality. A tip of the hat to all of them.
Nice pictures! – I couldn’t even row a marathon. It is impressive.
Great shots on an absolutely fun day Ruth! Thanks for sharing hon. 🙂 *hugs*
Great photos Ruth! Looks like a fun day!
Nice photos of the wheelers. I shared your post at https://www.facebook.com/TeamHopeForTheWarriors. Good work.
These photos really capture the day!
Ruthie beyond SPECIAL
You showed some really fun photos and made me smile on this monday morning…thank you!
Great post for the Pittsburgh Marathon! Cheers to the wheelchair participants!
A fantastic post, Ruth! I’ve gone down to the Chicago marathon course to cheer on friends and it is something to see. It is so much more than the first batch of finishers and you’ve done a great job capturing “both sides”, for lack of a better term. So good to see your event was so well-attended. Thanks for sharing your photos.
And thanks for your good words, John!
Ruth, you have perfectly captured the spirit of a marathon in your various images. So incredible!