Pittsburgh hosts Great Race

The busiest street in Oakland was completely deserted yesterday at 7:30 a.m.. A walk toward the… The busiest street in Oakland was completely deserted yesterday at 7:30 a.m.. A walk toward the Cathedral of Learning on Fifth Avenue at this hour didn’t require sidewalks. Pedestrians were free to stroll down the middle of one-way Fifth Avenue ‘mdash; the opposite way ‘mdash; with no fear. Only the sounds of faint sirens, accented by sparks of red and blue flashes from the tops of Pittsburgh city police cars, augmented the morning dew. But up ahead in the distance beneath the golden glow of the Cathedral, people bustled and Aerosmith blasted. It was the starting line of the 15th annual Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race. The Great Race hosted a 10K (6.2 mile) run that started at Frick Park. An hour after, the 5K run and fitness walk started in Oakland. It was part of the annual Pittsburgh Fall Fitness Classic, and portions of the proceeds were donated to the Richard S. Caliguiri Amyloidosis Fund in honor of the late mayor of Pittsburgh, who was also the race’s founder. Walking closer, the crowd came into focus. There were numerous bright shorts and moisture-wicking shirts with people running, stretching, sprinting, jumping and lunging in preparation for the race. Dreary-looking buildings surrounded a blend of Nike, Reebok, New Balance, Asics and Saucony. This year, the race attracted more than 4,300 runners ‘mdash; the most in its 15-year history. One of these runners was 71-year-old Georgette Lacey. Lacey ran the Great Race for the 11th year in a row. Her running experience spans 25 years. She has even run in the Boston Marathon. ‘I used to run the 10K,’ said Lacey, her voice barely audible over the speakers across the street. ‘Now, I run 5K’s to see how long I can last. I just want to run longer.’ Lacey ran off to the starting line, which received a major revamp for this year’s race. The Great Race adopted an SAI Timing and Tracking System. The system tracks running time through a tag with a small chip in it. The runners peel the tag off the numbered bib they receive upon registration, which holds the chip. The tag is looped into the runner’s shoelaces and is activated when it passes the starting line, which is full of layered computer sensors. As the runners cross the starting line, the chip is recorded in a small computer. It sends the chip information through the cell phone towers to the finish line computer to calculate the chip time. For the runners, the best part is that the tag can be kept as a souvenir. ‘ James Haygood manned the computer that kept the times. Haygood travels around the United States every weekend for races. On Saturday night he was in Akron for a different 10K event. ‘My day starts at 5 a.m.,’ he said while squatting next to the computer. ‘I get up and start wiring everything. I’ve been to Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Hawaii. You name it, I’ve been there.’ Haygood said he is still amazed at watching busy city streets shut down for a race. With two minutes until the gun, a large crowd had jammed the starting line. Heads of runners, joggers and walkers bobbed up and down amid the mass of crowded runners. Julie Brennan waited in a circle with her three children in the bus lane for the starting gun. Donning a pink, long-sleeved shirt, the Squirrel Hill native said that she loves running and usually runs in the 10K event every year. ‘Well, she just started cross country,’ said Brennan, pointing to her daughter Lorie. ‘It’s very fun, they’re all excited. It’s really cool just seeing everyone here.’ Brennan, a Pitt graduate, said she is used to running her kids around. She added that the most important thing, though, is sharing her passion for running, which started in her sophomore year at Pitt, and getting her kids to see Pittsburgh in a way they have never seen it. With just less than 20 minutes to go before the start of the race, runners started lining up to claim their spaces at the front of the pack. Meanwhile, two Pitt students waited on the sidewalk in front of Rita’s Italian Ice, talking and listening to Kelly Clarkson. ‘I have never done this before,’ said junior Jeremy Hahn. ‘In fact, I just got up like 10 minutes ago. I’m usually the lazy one. I’m really not sure why I’m here.’ ‘Same here,’ said Brett Lazska. ‘I would’ve run the 10K, but the 5K is right out the door.’ Then finally, it happened. The race director fired the gun. With music blasting, runners took off, stampeding down Fifth Avenue toward Downtown Pittsburgh. It was a five-minute rush of movement and music. Then nothing. Fifth Avenue was desolate again. Only Haygood and a few other workers remained. ‘Just like that, they’re all gone,’ said Haygood. ‘That’s how it goes. You just pack up and move on to the next city.’ After the madness, a bus rolled by. Pittsburgh was awake, and Fifth Avenue was back to normal.