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Gregory Rafal stretches on Liberty Avenue before the start. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
A member of the Marine color guard waits for the opening ceremonies to begin. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Elite runners break from the starting line. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Waving the Terrible Towel at the start. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Pittsburgh Marathon runners make the big left turn on Liberty Avenue, Downtown. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Spectators watch the soggy start. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Runners cross the Rachel Carson Bridge. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Abby Ohlinger of Reading, PA, cheered runners crossing the Rachel Carson Bridge. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Runners pack the Rachel Carson Bridge. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Tyler Wright of Ross, in chicken garb, cheers runners on the North Side. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
Runner pass St. Peter Catholic Church on the North Side. (Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette)
The lead runners make their way down Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. (Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette)
Tossany of San Francisco encourage runner along Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. (Nate Guidy/Post-Gazette)
Dominic Venditti encourage runners with a sign near the Bloomfield Bridge. (Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette)
A cluster of runners make their way along Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. (Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette)
A runner makes her way down Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. (Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette)
Members of the Mystics perform for runners along Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. (Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette)
Rita Tole, 89, of Brookline, encourage runners as they make their way along Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. (Nate Guidry/Post-Gazette)
Volunteer Lisa Bernardi wraps a runner in a heat blanket. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Participant medals await their recipients. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Kenya’s Kipkoech Ruto crosses the finish line in 2:17.28 to win the men’s division. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Ethiopia’s Ayantu Dakebo crosses the finish line with win the women’s Pittsburgh Marathon in 2:39.19. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Men’s winner Kipkoech Ruto of Kenya. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
Women’s winner Hailemaryam Ayantu of Ethiopia. (Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette)
The Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon got off to a soggy start today. Cloudy skies and drizzling rain greeted runners for the 7 a.m. start. This was race’s eighth annual running since its reinstatement in 2009.
Runners packed bridges and streets Downtown, then spread out as they negotiated a course that took them through several Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Some 4,500 participates from 49 of the nation’s 50 states and 12 countries ran the 26.2-mile full marathon. Another 15,500 navigated the half-marathon course.