Recap: This Year’s Pittsburgh Marathon Was the Largest — and Coldest — Ever

PHOTOS BY OLLIE GRATZINGER

It was another busy weekend in Pittsburgh. 

Just a week after the 2026 NFL Draft brought more than 800,000 people to the North Shore and Downtown, the 2026 Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend kicked off Friday with a record number of participants; the 26.2-mile race, the 13.1-mile half marathon and the 3.1-mile 5K all sold out ahead of race day on Sunday, May 3, and more than 52,000 runners and walkers turned out for weekend festivities.

If the Draft brought the city pride on a national level, Marathon Weekend brought it hyperlocally; hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the streets of more than a dozen neighborhoods to cheer for elite runners and walkers alike, despite unseasonably cold temperatures nearing the freezing mark when corrals opened before sunrise. In fact, this weekend saw the coldest race-day temperatures since the event relaunched in 2009, according to P3R, the organizers of the race. 

Even this year’s winner, Will Loevner, is a Pittsburgh native; the Winchester Thurston graduate and Pittsburgh Track Club member finished the course in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 52 seconds.

There were also a record number of participants in the event’s Run for a Reason program, which supports local and national charities. This year, 4,770 runners and walkers raised more than $1.5 million to support 50 official charities and 14 contributing charities, including Humane Animal Rescue, 412 Food Rescue and the Mario Lemieux Foundation. 

At the center of all the action was this year’s Live Well Expo, presented by GNC. The event takes over the David L. Lawrence Convention Center each year during Marathon Weekend; it serves as the point place for all things race-related, including packet pick-up, merch booths and photo ops. While there were plenty of returning favorites — Chick-fil-A, with free chicken sandwiches and a sign making station, and Brooks, selling just about everything a runner could need — there were also some new interactive events designed to drum up excitement for the weekend’s events.

Attendees were able to try their luck at riding a massive metal Brooks Glycerin Flex shoe set up inside an inflatable ring. While it may evoke images of a mechanical bull in a retro Rust Belt bar, riders say the mechanical Brooks shoe offered a much smoother ride. 

Expo guests were also encouraged to add their signature and a written message to runners on this year’s pace car, a black-and-gold Jeep Wrangler. Messages ranged from “Hail to Pitt!” and “Go Dad!” to various Instagram handles, inviting fellow runners to connect after the race.

An exhibit in the hall leading into the expo highlighted the local impact of Marathon Weekend since 2009, when Dick’s Sporting Goods became the event’s sponsor following a brief hiatus from 2004-2008. According to the display, more than half a million runners and walkers have crossed the finish line in Pittsburgh, and the marathon has been zero-waste since 2015; more than 90% of all race-related waste, including the 480,000 cups used at the course’s numerous hydration stations and the peels of 35,000 bananas distributed after the race, are diverted from landfills through partnerships with the Pennsylvania Resources Council. 

All clothing left behind at the start line as elite runners shed their layers is donated to Goodwill, and any leftover food goes to 412 Food Rescue.

An interactive map invited attendees to put a pin in their hometown; P3R, the organization that plans the marathon and numerous other races each year, says that participants came from all 50 states and 34 countries to run or walk in this weekend’s races.