South Fayette native Nicole Hilton is tops in women's race on soggy Pittsburgh Marathon day
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh Marathon weekend brought hundreds of thousands of people into the city.
Though it was a stormy and soggy day, runners and spectators were excited for the first in-person event in a long time.
"A lot of these people have been waiting three years to get back to this finish line," Troy Schooley, the CEO of marathon organizer P3R, said. "But it looks like people are having a great time out there. They're finishing, they've accomplished a goal that they've set out to do, so it's exciting."
Heavy rain caused some trouble for runners. However, most fared well enough to make it through the finish line.
Alvaro Abreu, of the Dominican Republic, pulled out a surprise victory in the men's full marathon.
"It feels good. He was motivated and when he saw the last kilometers, he was first, he just ran all the way, all the way to the finish line," Abreu said through his translator.
A Pittsburgh native crossed the finish line first in the women's full marathon.
Nicole Hilton, of South Fayette, came in first and she was competing in her first marathon ever.
"I think the winter training was pretty difficult," said Hilton. "Had a lot of snow days and icy weather, but it's really nice to come out here and see it all come out to play."
The half marathon winners were Wesley Kiptoo for the men and Caroline Rotich for the women. Both are from Kenya.
To see the full results from today's races, visit this link.
A total of 76 runners were treated by the Pittsburgh Marathon medical team, organizers said. Eight were taken to the hospital to be checked over.
The majority of patients were treated for heat and cold related conditions as well as sprains and strains, officials said.
Runners say competing for time is what drives them, but just crossing the finish line makes all of their training worth it.
As for what comes next. Well, Abreu said he's going to take a little time to celebrate his hard-fought victory.
Marathon organizers say they'll take a week to unwind, then it's back to the grind planning 2023's race.
