Making a Comeback, yinz!

In 2003, UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) dropped out as the main sponsor of the Pittsburgh Marathon, thus ending the annual tradition for the economically-depressed city.

In 2009, watch out Pittsburgh! The marathoners are once again taking over your streets for a 26.2-mile tour of this great city.

As a Pittsburgh-area native, running a Pittsburgh marathon would be a great accomplishment for me. I grew up outside the Pittsburgh area, but we still bled black-and-gold year-round like true Pittsburgh folk. We said "yinz" (when our mother wasn't around), we left important pronouns out of sentences, and we enjoyed going to the crick and drinking pop with our chipped ham. It makes me a little sad that my first marathon was in Philly and not Pittsburgh, but I'm excited to hear now that May 3, 2009 will be a great day in Western PA. The city is a great place--albeit a bit hilly, but that only is classic for the area--tough people, only expecting the toughest to show up to the game.

It appears the logistics are still being mapped out (literally and figuratively). The race course isn't yet set, and the cash prizes (as if any of us really worry about what the cash prizes will be) are yet to be determined. But what I do know for certain, the course will be beautiful, hilly, and will show off all the great sights Pittsburgh has to offer.