Pittsburgh Marathon (Relay)

Race day started out in the sixties with promises of a hot and muggy race if the clouds decided not to drop their rain. But just as we were approaching the first waterstop, the clouds let loose and it started pouring. The rain would not subside throughout the rest of the race (or day for that matter).

Before the race even began there were lots of people to try to meet up with. First, I attempted to meet up with a group from Shadyside Presbyterian for a quick prayer send-off, but none of us were in the same place at the same time, so we missed one another. Next, I had my mandatory team photo with Cool Runnings. Then there's always the thought of meeting up with the porta potty, but with the lines looking as long as they were, I decided to forgo. As we approached the start time, my father-in-law and I realized that we were way too far back in the pack. We tried to push as far forward as possible, but it was somewhat fruitless. As the race began and we approached the actual start line, we saw a whole bank of porta potties with no lines, so we jumped off course to hit them up before crossing the actual start line and then jumped back in with the crowd - perfect!
I have to say, the first three miles were mostly dodging walkers and slower runners. We had worked our way up to the 5:00 hour pace group, but it was really slow-going. Eventually, I think we made up some ground and caught up to the 10:00 min/mile group, which is what I was shooting for. The race itself was rather uneventful - it just felt so good. Running seven miles rather than the 26 you were originally training for just seems like a walk in the park!

I handed off the slap bracelet to Greg Anderson around the 7 mile mark and then I was done! Nathan, plus mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law who had braved the rain were there to meet me and then we trekked back over to the finish line to catch Nathan's dad as he finished the half marathon. Originally we had plans to watch some of the other marathon and relay finishers, but with being soaked to the bone, we headed back home for warm showers.
I had this shirt made when I was originally thinking I was going to run the full marathon while pregnant. Still got some good usage out of it, but it would have been fun to run the whole thing...maybe next year. Hopefully up soon - my prenatal exercise plan!