Fleet Feet Liberty Mile To Bring Thousands Downtown
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Fleet Feet Liberty Mile is bringing both competitive and casual runners to downtown Pittsburgh this Friday night.
Organizers expect more than 1,300 people to lace up their sneakers and participate.
One of those racers is Stan Cottrell, who has run across 40 different countries and accumulated more than 250,000 miles of running in his 63-year career. He is the real-life inspiration for "Forrest Gump."
When he crosses the Liberty Mile finish line, he will complete is 30th mile for the day. That's because Cottrell is right now running 30 miles a day for 100 consecutive days. He is making his way across the country.
Road closures start at 6:15 p.m., and the race begins at 7 p.m. The start line is set up at Penn Avenue between Fifth Avenue and 6th Street and the racers will cross the finish link at 6th Street and Liberty Avenue.
Restrictions include the westbound closure of Ft. Duquesne Boulevard for Allegheny Overlook Park. To detour around it, organizers advise heading east of Ft. Duquesne Boulevard and then making a U-turn onto the 10th Street Bypass to get on Stanwix Street or to continue west on the Ft. Pitt Bridge.
Parking restrictions are also in place on Penn and Liberty Avenues. During the race, parking lots will not have access onto Liberty or Penn between Stanwix and 11th Streets.
Parking on Liberty and Penn is also unavailable through the evening hours.
It's race day! Good luck to all runners later on tonight. Heads up to motorist that there will be some road closures between 6:15-9:15 tonight along Liberty Ave and along Penn Ave due to race. #YourDayPGH #KDKAwx pic.twitter.com/yxOeEC1fTJ
— Ron Smiley ???? (@RonSmileyWx) July 23, 2021
Roads are expected to reopen around 9 p.m.
To see the course map, visit this link.
Stay with KDKA for more on the big race!