Run, Forrest, Run and the Pittsburgh Marathon

Pittsburgh is my hometown (Go Steelers!). I often say it is an underestimated city, because few outsiders understand that it is a truly beautiful, cultural, modern city. So every year when the Pittsburgh Marathon approaches and yinz (<-- that's a real thing) start posting the marathon pictures that roll through my social media feeds, I feel a twang of homesickness and nostalgia. It is a race that I would like to run someday for a homecoming and to prove that living in Dallas all these years hasn't made me soft to running hills.

When I saw my friend's husband Mike posing for a picture on Facebook with a race number I was a little confused. First of all, I didn't know he was a runner, but that wasn't the confusing part. The confusing part was that he was wearing dress clothes and the time on his Facebook picture post said 2:17.  

2:17 Pittsburgh Half Marathon 

Wait a minute. Was I understanding this correctly? Was he claiming that he ran the Pittsburgh half marathon in 2:17 and he did it in khakis and a button down shirt? That is only about 18 minutes slower than my PR, that I achieved in proper running apparel and trained basically my whole adult life. But why was he wearing dress clothes? What's this about Forrest Gump? I text my friend (his wife) and started asking questions....

Forrest Gump and the Pittsburgh Half Marathon

Turns out that he started training for his first ever half marathon on December 31 last year. He ran the Pittsburgh half marathon dressed as Forrest Gump, with his brother as Lieutenant Dan, and another friend, as Jenny.

When someone yells out the car window "Run, Forrest, Run" while you are out there on the street putting in your miles, that is never ever funny, take note. (I know, preaching to the choir.) This, on the other hand, is hilarious. I love when running is fun. I love to hear that my friend trained for four months to essentially pull off a joke. I love when the fun part of running inspires people to keep going. He says he now wants to run the Pittsburgh marathon every year. Who knows, maybe next year, I'll be there as Bubba!

Good job, Mike. I'm impressed. Congrats on being a new daddy. What a good role model you are to your son. Thanks for keeping fitness fun. Congratulations to all my friends (and my awesome sister!) who ran in the Pittsburgh marathon this year!


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Keep Running,

Lea

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