May 04 2009
Baldwin High School's Rich Wright is no stranger to the chaos associated with putting on a first-class running event. Baldwin annually stages the state's largest scholastic track and field invitational, and serves as host for the WPIAL Class AAA district finals, too.
But his organizational stamina was put to the test last weekend. Having participated in the inaugural Pittsburgh Marathon as a runner in 1985, Wright went on to help deal with keeping the starting and finish line areas free of craziness in later years. When asked to help out with this year's version of the Dick's Sporting Goods race, his initial thought: no thanks.
"Being older now [he's 55] I knew it was going to be a bear. I know, I'm not 100, but when you start to work that many events...."
Here's a brief rundown of Wright's last few days. The Baldwin Invitational was last Friday, so he met at 7 a.m. with the coaching staff at Baldwin, where he is one of the head cross country coaches and an assistant with track. The meet went well into the night, and by the time it had ended and Wright, who also handles the box office, had counted up ticket money and gotten it to the safe, he fell into bed around 2 in the morning.
Saturday morning, he was Downtown helping with the Pittsburgh Marathon's children's event.
"If nothing else I did all weekend, I felt good that we made the children's marathon a lot of fun for the kids," Wright said. "They were all smiling and happy, and that's what it's all about."
He was staying at a hotel Saturday night, and went to bed around 2 a.m. An hour later, a motorist ran a car into the front of the nearby Heinz Regional History Center and during the ensuing arrival of the emergency crews, Wright said, "there was no point in going back to bed."
Showered and out the door at 4 a.m., he got ready for race day.
As one of the start/finish line coodinators, Wright was responsible for sorting runners from three different races. Dozens of volunteers -- including Baldwin High School athletes and their parents -- were directed to form human chains at the finish for crowd control in an event that featured a combined total of more than 10,000 runners. Two large sponsors of the races -- Dick's and Philip's Respironics -- had sent volunteers to help, too.
"A lot of us didn't meet until that morning," he said. "My hat's off to them, they had dozens of people there to do whatever we needed. And even the VIPs from Dick's who were there to hold the banners took time to come out and shake hands afterwards."
The UPMC medical staff was also busy near the staging area but through coordinated efforts, everyone pretty much stayed out of each others' ways.
"UPMC was awesome," Wright said. "That was so well orchestrated. Working [last Sunday] was really very pleasurable for me. I was very, very busy and going a little bit out of my mind, as I always am."
As the finish area was being struck and roads reopened, some of the walkers who began their journeys in the dark that morning, still filtered in.
"We gave them their medals and a little awards ceremony," Wright said.
In all, he said, he received nothing but kind words about the return of the race. One aspect the marathon committee might address, however, is an attempt to make the finish line area at the David L. Lawrence convention center a bit more fan-friendly. Due to the necessity of having the medical area nearby, combined with the physical limitations of keeping the finish behind street barriers, there wasn't that picnic-in-the-park sensibility of having the race end at The Point, as there had been in previous years.
"We have to work out a better solution for spectators," he said.
The return of the marathon has been universally heralded as a triumph for the running community and the city. But Wright has little time to reflect on the past weekend, not with a big regional qualifier track meet tomorrow and the WPIAL team championships Thursday. Then of course, there are the WPIAL finals at Baldwin next week, where they're going to try something a little different: this year, the Class AA teams will run there, too.
"We're going to run it like the state meet," Wright said. "We believe it's going to work."
That'll make for a long day. So what else is new?
May 03 2009
Longtime greyhound adopter Teri Miller ran the Pittsburgh Marathon in 3:59.51, which she said makes her very happy. She was also running to raise funds for Pittsburgh-based Going Home Greyhounds, and her early estimation puts the donations at $2,000.
Miller encouraged fans of running and greyhound -- the go well together -- to bring their dogs to the course to help cheer her on this morning. But the damp chill of the morning gave way to rain, which might have kept the dogs away, if not the people.
"I saw five or six of them during my run," she said.
Another runner's story
Squirrel Hill's Eve Dater is a cross-trainer still fairly new to the marathon. The subject of an earlier Finish Line Post ("Staying Fabulous"), she planned to run most of the Pittsburgh race with her sister, Dory Levine. Dater's final chip time was 5:30.37; Levine clocked in at 5:03.55.
May 03 2009
Elizabeth DiNunzio was supposed to run the Pittsburgh Marathon this morning. Instead, her family and friends are gathering for her funeral.
DiNunzio, 22, was finishing an afternoon run last Tuesday in preparation for her first marathon when she was stuck and killed by a motorist in a pick-up truck; the man was not charged. She would have graduated with honors next Sunday.
In memory, DiNunzio's aunt, Tami Kennedy, wore the girl's race number today and Kennedy, who had registered for the half-marathon, gave that number to Loren Reynolds, DiNunzio's boyfriend. Although he is not a trained runner, Reynolds was paced by Mickey Flood, a member of The Zelie-Harmony Running group, to which Kennedy and about six others belong. He finished the race in 2:04.41.
A 2005 graduate of Seneca Valley High School, DiNunzio went on to four active years at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Md, where she won awards as a distinguished student in Spanish and charmed pupils during her student teaching stint at an area middle school. She was active in online running group chats, and recent posts on Facebook.com, the Runner's World blogs and Twitter express the shock and sadness from many she had never met but felt a kinship with.
There was a little apprehension among the runners who wanted to complete DiNunzio's race for her in Pittsburgh. Kennedy is a seasoned runner but had not specificially trained for the longer distance this spring. To that end, Zelie Harmony club members Chris Murray and Sue Altemus of Zeilienople were going to go the distance with her, lending practical and emotional support.
They need not have worried.
"Chris normally does between four and four-and-a-half hours but they weren't sure what Tami would do," said Murray's husband, Tom. "They finished in 4:16, it was tremendous."
"Tami had trained for the half, not the full, and most of her running, except for the weekend, is on a treadmill," Chris Murray said. "But because you weren't thinking about that, or the pain, you were thinking about her [Elizabeth], it wasn't about you, it was about something bigger than all of us."
A bus from Mount St. Mary's is leaving at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow for students and faculty to attend the funeral, which is at St. Peter's Reformed Church in Zelienople. But some arrived early yesterday, so they could join the race for the last five or so miles with the Zelie Harmony group.
"It felt so good, her friends jumping in with five miles to go," said Altemus, who estimated about a dozen made the run.
Kennedy, Altemus and Murray were wearing signs on their backs in memory of DiNunzio, as were some in the half-marathon. Murray said they were approached a number of times by other runners who expressed support. There were a few tears along the way, she said, but none at the finish line, where it was pure elation.
"It was just a wonderful thing," Murray said. "It was all very uplifting."
Mount St. Mary's has established a scholarship in DiNunzio's name, details of which can be found here. A memorial service at the school will be celebrated Wednesday.
(Below, Zelie Harmony racers run in honor of Elizabeth DiNunzio. In yellow singlets, from left to right: Jim Nickel, Tami Kennedy, Chris Murray and Susie Altemus)
May 03 2009
Two former local high school stars did very well indeed this morning. Kristin Price, a former Penn-Trafford High School track and cross country champion, won the women's division of the marathon, and on the men's side, Mt. Lebanon graduate Greg Costello won the half-marathon. Both were WPIAL Class AAA 1,600-meter winners back in the day (Price, 2000, Costello 1999) before going on to North Carolina State and Bucknell, respectively.
For Costello, who works as a technical representative for Nike out of Chicago, it was a busy trip home. He was on his feet to work Nike's contribution of the Health and Fitness Expo Friday and Saturday, but managed to run back to the South Hills for a brief visit with family.
With a personal-best entry time of 1:07.02, he figured he'd be among the leaders, but winning came as a surprise.
"With this sort of prize money [$2,500], I thought more people would know about it. That usually attracts a certain level of talent. But eight minutes into the race I had a pretty good idea how this was going to go," he said.
Setting the pace by himself had its ups and downs, he added. "It takes the pressure off, but it's hard to do this on your own. I'm proud I was able to [push the pace alone]."
Costello, who has a PR of 2:20:28 for the marathon, had been putting in high-milage weeks of 125-130 miles going into the men's Olympics trials -- he was 42nd in the race in New York City last fall. But he's changed the pace more recently, going more for 90- 100-mile weeks and quality over quantity. He might run a fall marathon and is keeping an eye toward qualifying for the men's 2012 trials. The qualifying standard has been tightened for that race -- 2:19 for the marathon, 1:05 for the half.
Yet spectators watching the race probably didn't realize who he was. Although a hometown runner crossed the finish line first, a bib mixup resulted in Costello being announced as "Bob Costello of Columbus, Ohio."
For Kara Price, twin sister of Kristin, the trip back to Western Pennsylvania had mixed results. She said she was happy for Kristin's victory but her plan to push through a marginal stress fracture didn't pan out.
"I saw my parents around 12 or 13 miles and just had to drop out," she said. "I've felt this [injury] coming on over the last month and a half. I tried to limit my training to longer [more moderate] runs but it kept hurting.
"But it wasn't like I was going to win this race, especially any one with Krisin in it," she said, examining a laurel wreath given to her sister.
Their mother, Donna, is a third-grade teacher in the Penn-Trafford School District. Although the girls never had her for class, they did see her when they were in high school; Donna also has her librarian's certification.
Teaching must run in the family; Kara, who lives in Raleigh with Kristin, teaches high school chemistry. Her twin also is a chemist, but is in the research field.
"I didn't want to be in a lab all day, and I didn't want to go to grad school. I like giving tests, rather than taking them," Kara said, laughing.
May 03 2009
Race officials were frantically searching for donations of bananas as of a few weeks ago (they eventually got something like 20,000, twice what they requested). Here, an impressive list of what else was necessary to get this year's Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon up and running. Runners entry fees, sponsor donations and in-kind support from local and national companies were used to amass the vast number of supplies, products and support.
This included:
** 400,000 recyclable water cups
** 9,500 gallons of fluids
** 400 folding tables
** 2,000 total volunteers
** More than 400 medical volunteers
** 13,000 shiny Mylar blankets
** 4,600 alcohol wipes
** 5,000 pairs of surgical gloves
** 2,100 lancets to treat blisters
** 7,600 Band-aids
** 475 Ace wraps
** 1,300 rolls of cloth tape
** 47 bottles of hand sanitizer
** 40 containers of antibacterial cleaning wipes
** 150 jars of petroleum jelly
And this evening, there will no doubt be at least 99 bottles of beer on the wall for those looking to kick back and re-carbo load after a long day.
Despite the large amounts of fluids on hand some, including former Squirrel Hill resident Obi Okobi of Baltimore -- seen here stretching before the half-marathon -- preferred to bring a few bottles of their own favorite sports drink.
May 03 2009
Sadie Gurman | 11:31
50 people have been treated downtown and at the 18 aid stations. Four have been taken to hospitals with unknown injuries.
May 03 2009
Moriah Balingit | 12:01
In today's race, you could find runners chatting casually, runners fiddling with their iPods, even runners on their cell phones. But the master of the multi-tasking has to be Barry Goldmeier, who planned to run the entire race while juggling four small sparkly red hacky sacks.
Mr. Goldmeier, of Maryland, has run a number of races this way. Today, for about a quarter-mile on the North Side, he managed to run, juggle and answer a reporters' questions.
"I do as much as I can," he said, his eyes fixed intently on the sacks as he rounded the corner on Cedar Avenue. "I have to stop around turns and potholes."
He started running in high school and picked up juggling and running about 20 years ago. At home, he trains on a track.
"It's just for fun," he said.
May 03 2009
Maria Sciullo | 10:45 a.m.
The mass of humanity comprising the Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon field took time to gulp sports drinks and adjust shoes, shirts and attitudes in the half hour before the clock began ticking.
Rock music intended to pump up the crowd blared from loud speakers that seemed to be everywhere in the frantic little corner of the world along Smallman Street down into the Strip District and probably carrying across the Allegheny River as well to annoy the neighbors.
Mike Snider of Collier Township didn't need such inspiration. He brought his own fan club. This was made evident when marathon public address announcer Mike Reilly spotted the optic green signs carried by his entourage. "Mike Snider can do 26.2!" Reilly yelled.
Standing on the hillside near the back of the starting-line pack, Ruby Robertson of McDonald, Washington County, craned her neck to catch a glimpse of her daughter, Gayle Jesse, of Hickory, Pa;, who was running the marathon.
As the countdown began, Coldplay's "Clocks," was the song of choice, followed by the Rolling Stones's "Start Me Up." Marathon volunteers handing out extra safety pins were in great demand in the final moments, and there was a surprising amount of good luck kissing going on.
May 02 2009
It's not exactly inspirational to hear this the day before the race, but it's important for a runner to know when it's prudent to drop out. Ron Ferguson, Jr., a Forest Hills podiatrist and avid runner, is a veteran of almost two dozen marathons. He has a PR of 2:45.53 [Boston 1981].
He knows feet. There's a lot he can say about keeping them in great shape but he's also familiar with the myriad of problems that can arise.
"I've dropped out of one marathon, and should have dropped out of another," he said.
Here, his thoughts on knowing when it's smart to call it a day.
"The first thought that occurs to me is that many runners have a 'tough-guy' mentality that they must finish a race at all costs, and that it is a disgrace or shameful to drop out. In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. It can take a lot of courage to drop out of the race when family, friends, and coworkers are looking forward to learning how you finished.
"That said, there are many reasons that either an experienced or a novice runner should consider dropping out of a marathon. The reasons for dropping out can probably be divided into two categories: medical and psychological/emotional. Medical reasons compelling a runner to drop out are similar for elite, competitive, recreational, and novice runners; while 'mental' reasons may differ greatly according to the runners experience, fitness, and goals for the particular race and season.
"Certainly any runner, of any level, can fall victim to an acute musculoskeletal injury that necessitate quitting the race. A prime example of this type of injury is the stress fracture that Deanna Kastor experienced in the Bejing Olympics.
"A stress fracture when running is an acute injury in which the runner experiences a sudden, sharp pain, most commonly in the foot or the leg. The discomfort increased any every stride, and if the runner attempts to 'run through the pain', there is a danger that the stress fracture may become a complete, through-and-through, complex fracture.
" A simple stress fracture can be treated easily with casting and rest; while a displaced fracture would most likely require surgery and prolonged immobilization. Deanna Kastor dropped out of the Olympic Marathon within minutes of suffering the injury, was treated appropriately with casting, rest, etc., and was able to quickly resume training at the highest level.
"As a general rule-of-thumb, if a previously healthy runner develops a sudden, sharp, severe, unrelenting musculoskeletal pain that increases with every step, then the runner is best served by dropping out.
"The most serious, and even life-threatening, injuries that can occur when running are heat-related. Heat exhaustion is the most common heat syndrome. This is common on a relatively hot day. (>75 F), when the humidity is high. A runner who is insufficiently acclimated, inadequately trained, and/or improperly hydrated, [before and during the race], is at greater risk.
"Heat stroke is a more severe medical emergency -- an athlete may die within hours of the initial presentation. Symptoms may include cessation of sweating, headache, confusion, faintness, and abdominal distress. If you suspect a runner is suffering a heat-related injury, be certain that they receive immediate medical aid. The most effective initial treatment is to immerse the runner in an ice-water bath.
"Races run in early Spring, such as the Boston and Pittsburgh Marathons, can be especially difficult due to an unexpected, unseasonably warm day. Running a race on an 80-degree day in August, when a runner has had months to get used to running in the heat, is much easier and safer, than running the same distance on an 80-degree day in late April/early May.
"While heat-related injuries are most likely in inexperienced, under-trained runners, even very well-trained, experienced marathoners can be affected. If race day is warmer than you have had a chance to adjust to, modify your goals appropriately, and be prepared to drop out if necessary."
May 02 2009
Sadie Gurman | 10:20 a.m.
More than 100 nurses, paramedics and emergency room doctors are on hand at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center this morning to aid marathon runners who could suffer from a range of ailments in today's race.
So far, though, doctors haven't treated more than a few minor injuries - some dizziness, some dehydration.
Rows and rows of portable green stretchers sit inside the convention center, which doctors said is fully stocked with everything from bandages to oxygen tanks and defibrillators.
Runners are also being given mylar blankets with which to wrap themselves to ward against hypothermia in today's chilly morning air.
Doctors are telling runners to eat salty foods and get plenty of fluids once they finish.
As of 10:30 a.m., two people have been taken to hospitals. One was taken from the course with an injury and the other from the Convention Center. Medical personnel are starting to see strains and sprains, too.
Update: As of 11:30 a.m., 50 people have been treated downtown and at 18 aid stations. Four have been taken to hospitals with unknown injuries.
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