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Pittsburgh Half Marathon Recap, Part 1


Before I get to the actual race, let me go through the weekend itself. I chose this race partly because of the American Development Project where they really take care of the runners.

And boy did they take care of us. They treated us like athletes, making sure we had everything we needed to focus on race day.

The weekend started at the race's host hotel, where the runners received a complementary hotel room. I was sharing the room with another guy doing the same thing as me...of course it was a little awkward sharing a hotel room with someone I'd never met before, but after four years of four-people-to-a-room in college, I was pretty used to it.

At the host hotel there was an Athlete Hospitality suite on the top floor, stocked with water and snacks, where the elite contingent could relax and hang out. The race directors had our bib numbers at the suite, saving us the headache of going to the expo and packet pickup. For the marathoners, there was also a place for their personal water/nutrition bottles, to be placed on the course so elites didn't have to use the Dixie cups. This is one of the small things I'd love to see other races do.

Bib number with my name on it!

In the evening we had dinner provided by the hotel for all the athletes, which was a cool place to meet up and hang out with some of out competitors. It also beat walking around downtown looking for a quality place to eat dinner.

The finish area was right next to the host hotel...clutch!

Race day started early (like, 4:30 am early). At 5 all the elite athletes were escorted the half mile to the starting line, where we had a cordoned-off area of a building to relax before warming up. Again, having a set-aside elite warm-up area sure beats dealing with the masses in the corrals.

Of all the races I've done, this one did the most to take care of the runners. There were a lot of simple elements here that'd be great to see in other races. Regardless of how the race turned out, it was a genuine professional experience.

So by 6:30 we were all warming up, and at 7 the race was on. More on that next...

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