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PGH Marathon (spectator) review
My DH ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon yesterday, part of the half/full event. There were 25,000 total runners including a decent pool of elites. The race over the last few years has gotten bigger and bigger.
Expo - Good sized without being huge, the most interesting vendor to me was the foot analysis one that used a heat-sensing pad to see how your feet are shaped and then they analyze your legs to determine how your are aligned. I thought it was interesting, and found that my feet are not anywhere near as flat as I thought.
Swag - Ok, Tshirt was tech, long sleeve, quite nice. Free stuff in the bag was good without being overwhelming.
Race Day - The info on the site was very good, there was an interactive parking map which showed you recommended parking and information about the T which was free. We ended up parking on the North Shore near the stadiums where the Steelers play and walking to the start, which is over a bridge and through the pre/post race park area outside. Tons of port-a-pots all over the place, lines never really got long except in the 10 min before the gun went off. Corals were MUCH easier to find and get into than last year. We left my husband about 20 min before the gun in Corral D.
Race (spectator POV) - Everything went off on time, and there seemed to be great crowd support everywhere we went. Nothing like Boston or NYC, but definitely good areas of crowds. Husband was in corral D, but should have been in C to be with the 2h pace group. We saw him just after the start already dodging around folks, but he did so with a smile on his face. We caught him again at mile 4.5, still looking strong and passing people. I was worried he was going out too fast, but there was no time to say anything! Haha.
Tried to catch him at mile 9, but we weren't going to make it because we got stuck on the wrong side of the course and we'd miss him if he kept up his pace. I got a text just after he passed the 10k mark with his time and ETA at the finish. Seriously I received the text from the timing people about 15 seconds after he crossed the mat! Talk about timely. I knew he was going at a 8:53 pace, which was a bit fast, but totally doable.
Then it got hot, the sun came out and warmed things up fast. From 60 to about 70 in an hour or so. Humidity was not bad but the sun was intense. We proceeded to mile 13 just before the finish to watch the runners come in, since we'd not make it to mile 9.
This is where things got rough for the runners. There was a long, slight incline from 12.9 to 13.0, which seemed really brutal, and the sun was directly on your back the entire incline. Took out quite a few runners, some walked, some puked, and 2 gentlemen suffered from best I could tell complete and total muscular failure. Their muscles locked up and they looked like puppets almost, in that their limbs were just unresponsive and they eventually ended up collapsed on the ground. One guy was right on the fence in front of us, he had no idea what was going on. It was terrifying. The security and medic team was fantastic, however. They were right on the scene and had them carted off in a few minutes.
DH came through right as expected, finishing in 1:57:56 and beating his goal of a sub-2 half marathon! He was super excited. He looked tired but still strong (if that makes any sense) coming up the final hill. We got a bunch of people to cheer him on and he crossed the finish line looking pretty thrilled. He finished in the top 1/3 of runners overall and his division, not bad for a guy who 2 years ago was running 15 minute miles.
The finish area was very crowded but well organized. It was getting really hot, so I think some sprinklers would have been nice. DH got a post-race massage, mostly because the line was not long yet!
Overall: I think he and I would recommend this race to anyone. The organization and support is very good, the field is large enough to get that really awesome group-goal kind of feeling. The heat of the day was clearly not something they could control, but they did what they could to take care of the runners. It was warm, though certainly no 85 degree Boston!
I ran the 5k put on by the same people the day before. Very casual group of runners, clearly, but it was a lot of fun. I can review that too, but I should probably do some work... 
Re: PGH Marathon (spectator) review
2012 Goal: working towards pre-pregnancy speed!
04/15 KI Metric Marathon/16.3 m (2:05:55, 7:43 pace)
05/06 Frederick 13.1 (1:41:09)
11/04 NYCM
Do it! We're actually considering the marathon relay next year with some friends, so we'll be there again. This is assuming I can get to 6+ miles by next May.
I totally looked for you among the 25000 runners! I can't wait to hear how you did.