Pittsburgh To Host USATF Half-Marathon Championships
The Steel City will host the 2018 and 2019 USA Half-Marathon Championships with an $85,000 prize purse for the winners.
(c) 2017 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved.
The UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half-Marathon, part of the DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend of events organized by P3R, has been selected as the USA Half-Marathon Championships for men and women in 2018 and 2019 by USA Track & Field. The events, scheduled for the first weekend in May, will offer $85,000 prize money purses in both years.
“We are honored to host a USATF National Championship and invite America’s best runners to the ‘City of Champions,'” said P3R CEO Patrice Matamoros through a statement. “The presence of such talented runners will bring added excitement to the entire field of runners and will also increase the prestige and footprint of the Pittsburgh Marathon event for many years to come.”
The Championships will also be part of the USA Running Circuit, a distance running series featuring USATF Championships from one mile through the marathon. The series attracts some of the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded annually in total prize money.
In 2018, P3R will also celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the return of the Pittsburgh Marathon after a 5-year hiatus from 2003 to 2008. The historic Pittsburgh event returned in 2009 and has inspired a running renaissance in the region. Pittsburgh was named one of the “Best Cities for an Active Lifestyle” by WalletHub in 2017. In addition, the Steel City has hosted six USA Marathon Championships including two U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials (women, 1988 and men, 2000).