Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon Expo

In order to make the most out of my long weekend in Pittsburgh, I made the decision to fly out from Atlanta to Pittsburgh on a 7:20 am flight.  This flight would get me there a little bit before the expo opens and allows me to enjoy the afternoon in Pittsburgh.

As I was boarding the plane, I noticed someone who looked very familiar.  It was a very early morning and I could be seeing things, but indeed I did know this person.  My running bud Nathan from Florida was sitting next to me on the flight.  Having Nathan next to me on the flight really made time go by fast.

My first stop of the trip was of course the expo!  A few of my local friends had given me a heads up that the expo can be a little hectic first thing in the morning due to a lot of locals heading over during lunch hours.  I decided to go ahead and head that way anyways as I had other plans later in the day.  

We were some of the first few to line up for the 11:00 expo opening.  The line was no where near a runDisney expo line by any means (around 100 were lined up at the opening).  It was really cool to be there for the ribbon cutting of the expo which kicked off race weekend.

It was beyond awesome to have full range of the expo practically.  My first stop was the Dick's Sport Goods merchandise area to pick up a race shirt.  The official race shirts for the relay, 1/2 marathon, and marathon were long sleeves, so I knew I wanted to pick up something short-sleeved that I could wear this summer in Atlanta.  As most expo-goers headed towards bib pick-up I was I able to score this pretty great picture.  

The expo had a great variety of different vendors including runner merchandise, race registration opportunities and free product samples.  No matter what you were looking for, you were likely to find it at the Pittsburgh Marathon expo.  There were some awesome shoe deals, however I could not partake in those deals because I was limited on space in my suitcase to head back home.


It was a little different to be at a race expo an not register for future races.  Since I was at a race that I have to fly to, committing to traveling in the area for another race is a little hard to do on a whim. There were a few races though that sparked my interest for late 2015 and 2016.

The Pittsburgh Marathon weekend offers a special challenge for completing the 5K on Saturday along with a race on Sunday (relay, 1/2 marathon, or full marathon) - the Steel Challenge.  With both bibs in hand, I am now all ready for the Steel Challenge!

The expo for the Pittsburgh Marathon weekend was great.  Everything went very smoothly with one exception - the drawstring bag pick up was on the opposite side of the expo than the bibs & shirts.  This created a little bit of issue as people were wandering through the expo carrying their bibs and shirts without a bag which lead to people dropping items.  Other than this small detail, everything else was absolutely fabulous. 


As we were getting ready to leave the expo, I got to meet up with some of my local friends - Chelsea, Jeff, Lauren, and Sarah.  It is crazy how even though I have only met some of these people briefly in person (if at all), but we are so connected with each other's journeys on social media.  Each of us have a different story, journey, and reason to run which inspires me to keep pushing forward each day.

Expo - CHECK!

Up next - 5K on Saturday!

GAME ON!