Top distance runners among field for City of Pittsburgh Great Race

Jennifer Bigham won the City of Pittsburgh Great Race in 2016, 2017, 2019 and last year, and she hopes to add win No. 5 on Sunday.

Bigham has become one of the fastest masters runners in the country, winning the 2022 USA Masters Half Marathon Championship and USA Masters One Mile Championship.

Two-time Great Race champion Nick Wolk, a Peters Township and Pitt graduate, will go for his third win in a row. He won both the 5K and 10K races in 2021, setting a new 5K record in the process.

Nicole Hilton, the 2022 Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon champion, will run the 10K through the streets of the Steel City.

Those notable distance names will join more than 10,000 runners and walkers throughout the weekend to celebrate the 46th fall classic event.

“A thing with this race regionally is that it isn’t a prize-money race, if you will,” race director Brian Katze said. “The whole vibe is that it is a community event. It is an event for everyone and their personal accomplishments. You aren’t racing against anybody but yourself and your personal goals and expectations.

“People do run against their friends or they want to be the best in their family, which makes it fun. For some Pittsburgh locals, those top runners and others from universities or running clubs, they want to have a Great Race championship on their resume. It’s great that it does attract some of the top runners in the region.”

Sunday’s 5K race/walk begins at 8 a.m. in Oakland at Fifth Avenue and Atwood streets.

The 5K course also is the second half of the 10K course. The 10K race begins at 9:30 in Frick Park at Beechwood Boulevard.

The participants again will finish in Point State Park.

The weather, Katze said, is looking good.

“It should be pretty comfortable for a road race,” he said. “For the 5K at 8, we’re looking at upper 50s, and low 60s and breezy for the 10K at 9:30. There will be cloud cover and a 40 percent chance of some showers. It is almost ideal conditions for road racing. A light rain never hurts when you are working up a sweat.

“We’ve been lucky, historically, with the weather.”

Katze said the One Great Race Challenge continues this year.

It began in 2020, and more than 600 runners completed both the 5K and 10K events as part of their virtual One Great September.

Running in person, a participant in the One Great Race Challenge will run the 5K and complete it within 40 minutes. He or she will then jump on a shuttle or another form of transportation to the 10K start line and then run the 10K.

Those willing to still sign up for the challenge are asked to complete a registration for both the 5K and 10K.

“It can be a challenge from a distance standpoint, but it actually works out well logistically,” Katze said. “We do have a couple hundred runners signed up to do both. They will earn their medals for the 5K and 10K and also a special medal signifying they completed the challenge.”

People who want to run the 10K and 5K but haven’t registered yet can do so up until Sunday morning. To register online, go to rungreatrace.com/register.

“A lot of times, people wait to check the weather and other things to see if it is something they want to do,” Katze said.

Former Pittsburgh Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri established the race that now bears his name in 1977 as a “community fun run.”

Close to a half-million people have participated in the Great Race. It is the largest 10K race in Pennsylvania and has expanded into what it is today with the 5K run/walk, a running clinic, the Junior Great Race on Saturday and the Great Race Expo among other festivities for everyone in the family.

A tradition continues at this year’s Great Race as 19 men known as the Perfect Great Racers are back to continue a streak of participating in all 46 events since 1977.

“It is a great accomplishment for that group,” Katze said. “Forty-six years of doing anything consecutively is a big challenge with personal schedules and things that come up with families. To see the commitment from them and the desire to want to come back is a testament to what this race means for the community and for the City. They are our ambassadors in so many ways. It shows people what it means to be a part of this race and this celebration and what you can get involved in.

“Not all of them are from around here anymore. Their lives have taken them other places, but they make it a point to come back and keep the streak going.”

The Junior Great Race on Saturday is at Point State Park with the One-Mile Race at 9:30, 10:00 and 10:30, the Tot Trot at 9:45 and 10:45, and the Diaper Dash at 10:15.

For all things Great Race, including race-day info, results, and a decade-by-decade history of the event, visit rungreatrace.com.

“The year goes by quickly when you are working on an event like this,” Katze said. “So many people invest their time and effort to make it happen. Forty-six years is a testament to what this race means to the community, through the pandemic and everything else in its history. We had almost 5,000 people run this race virtually on their own time in 2020. The numbers have increased each year as we have come out of the pandemic.

“To see everyone come out and run, celebrate each other and the City, and just have fun, it’s pretty special.”