Tag: runners

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 first marathoner in the Wheelchair Division

Way to go. He gave me a smile!

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

All things Scottish!

Running for a serious cause

BACKWARDS!!!

Oh say can you see

A monkey

A tutu

Texting in Tutus?

Tutus were popular this year

Chicago Runs for Boston

The last two marathoners after they reopened the streets

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

Preparing the course

Pittsburgh’s Finest

The Media Truck

The Media Truck Close-Up

Volunteers arriving

Water Station Volunteer

Volunteer picks up paper cups

you never saw such an expedited clean-up

Sweeping Bus

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

Old Three Rivers Stadium Seats

Barbara’s table

The Walking Taco Station

Highland Avenue Partiers