With Shea, Brittany and Anthony and downtown Pittsburgh in the backdrop.

Anthony invited me to join him and his newlywed wife, Brittany, to run the Pittsburgh Marathon with Shea, Brittany’s sister-in-law, who lives in Pittsburgh. We flew out of Houston early Friday morning and Joey, Brittany’s older brother picked us up. It was time to start the pre-marathon routine. Joey took us to the historic Southern Slopes District where we ate and drank at Fat Heads. They had an impressive food menu and their beer selection was amazing. Next we headed out for a walk to stretch our legs along the riverside hike and bike trail which led us to a little shopping district. Joey and Anthony ordered two 2 liter pitchers each of the Dunkel and Heffeweisen. Great beer must be accompanied by great food, so we enjoyed a plate of imported German soft pretzels with beer cheese. Joey then drove us to Shea’s loft apartment in the Strip District. To cap off the night we walked into a jazz bar for more hydration and carbo loading. We slept long and hard that night because it’s sometimes hard to sleep well the night before the race.

Saturday morning began with a leisurely breakfast prepared by Shea. Anthony and I escaped the jewelry show and explored the market along Penn Avenue. We grabbed a quick seafood lunch and continued walking down the sidewalks lined with vendor tents and tables selling flowers, clothes, souvenirs, and food. Miles was having a good old time sniffing out all the new smells. Andrew and I ordered a burger and perogies from the kitchen so our food came out before Anthony, Brittany and Shea got their pizzas from the brick oven. Back at Shea’s, we relaxed for a while then started to prep for the race. We stretched, pinned our bibs, packed our dry clothes bags, double checked and got to bed early. Race morning was casual as we ate a quick breakfast and walked the mile or so to the start. My race however was a bit more composed. A couple miles later I pulled aside for a pit stop. I ran through the half at 1:29:30 with Laura and Kelly, a couple local female runners. I dropped my pace a bit to catch my breath and held steady for the next couple of miles. The real test came at the end of mile 23 which greeted me with a 1/3 mile descent of 150 feet. The last couple miles were a struggle, but I kept Kelly in sight. Check off Pennsylvania, farewell Pittsburgh!

Good times are always had hangin with Andrew

After we ate and drank our fill, we piled into Andrew’s VW and on our way back to Shea’s picked up a couple growlers from The Church Brew House and some ice cream. We took a picture together of our turkey legs. Anthony played with a bit more strategy and some luck on his side made him a winner.

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Pittsburgh ain’t the Pits