2016 Pittsburgh Marathon

Today was the running of the 2016 Pittsburgh Marathon

Pictured below are some of the runners who participated in the half marathon, running 13.1 miles. Congratulations ladies !

  Amanda Clark, Desiree Cummings ( Emporium) Mandy Miller ( Emporium ) Julie Prutznal 

Whitney Lewis, on the far right,completed the 26.2 miles

I want to share this story of Whitney's journey to race day.

 Dedication to her goal made her first marathon a reality. Congratulations Whitney!

 I DID IT!!!! One of my biggest life accomplishments-- I am a marathoner!! One year ago my goal for the year was to complete a 10k (6.6mi) and today I completed the Pittsburgh Marathon (26.2mi)! I found an inspirational group of people who were dedicated to getting up at 4:15am before work to run and they coached me through the training. I at first thought okay, I can do this and completed a half marathon in December and said to myself now I need to raise the bar and although it was so incredibly far above my bucket list and goal for life, I signed up and today I reached that goal!!! While I never thought possible--I was teaching third grade, coaching college and elementary basketball teams, waitressing, and getting my masters, running became my "me time," the time that I was able to dedicate daily to myself for a few hours every morning and not feel guilty like I should be doing something else. I never before considered myself a runner, just someone who ran a few miles to keep in shape, but now it has become a release and a passion.

 I've learned that while things can be so far in a dream world at one point in life, if you work hard and dedicate yourself, anything is possible!!