North Hills grad Margo Malone wins Pittsburgh Marathon in hometown
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Margo Malone was no stranger to running marathons, but Sunday’s 26.2-mile race on the streets of Downtown Pittsburgh was her first in her hometown.
Hearing the cheers from the thousands of spectators who lined the course and the loud response heading down the home straightaway, the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials participant gave a final kick and finished the marathon, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, in a winning time of 2 hours, 41 minutes, 56 seconds.
“I felt great,” said Malone, who went on to run at Syracuse after her high school days concluded at North Hills.
“It was really fun. I was with some Pitt college kids for a while. The back half was great. There were a lot of great people in Shadyside. My dad was out there, and I saw my sister (Mary) after she finished the half (marathon). It was so cool to experience this again with her. She’s amazing. We run together almost every single day. We get to spend a lot of time together.”
Malone, who ran the half marathon last year and took 12th, was one of seven elite women’s runners in the field. She led by 4 minutes at the 20-mile mark and finished nearly 7 minutes ahead of the rest of the pack.
“I just tried to soak in (the finishing stretch),” Malone said. “Sometimes you are sprinting into the finish. I wanted to kind of look around and see all the people. Pittsburgh means so much to me. It’s been so great to have the support of the whole city.”
A quick spritz of rain at the start of the races at 7 a.m. gave way to generally cloudy skies but no more precipitation. With temperatures in the mid- to upper 50s for most of the race, conditions were nearly flawless.
“It was a little humid, but the wind was perfect,” Malone said. “There was a little bit of a headwind, but it wasn’t strong enough to hurt me, so it felt good.”
Malone is the third female runner with Pittsburgh connections to win the Pittsburgh marathon since the event returned from hiatus in 2009.
Clara Santucci, a current Pittsburgh area resident who ran at West Virginia and earned multiple Division I All-American honors, won in 2014 and 2015.
South Fayette graduate Nicole Hilton was victorious last year. She opted to move to the half marathon this year and took 11th (1:22:40).
Seton LaSalle grad Ann Mazur, who ran collegiately at Notre Dame and was runner-up to Hilton last year, took eighth Sunday (3:02:22).
Pittsburgh’s Anna Balouris gave this year’s women’s full marathon an added local flair. She came in third with a time of 2:51:35.
Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba is a three-time winner and course-record holder (51:38) of November’s EQT 10 Miler.
Now, she can add the UPMC Health Plan Pittsburgh Half Marathon to her list of winning accomplishments in Pittsburgh.
Diriba, who turned 29 in February and trains with Riadha Elite Athletes in the DC Metro area and also in her home country, broke the tape in a time of 1:10:43.
“I liked this weather,” Diriba said. “I was happy to hear everyone cheering me on.”
Diriba raced for the first time since 2020’s Dubai Marathon, when she took a break to start a family. She also owns a personal-best time of 1:06:50 recorded at the Houston Half Marathon in 2018. That same year, Diriba won the New York City Half Marathon.
Americans Carrie Verdon (1:10:47) and Jackie Gaughan (1:11:30) were a close second and third, respectively.
Last year’s winner and course record holder, Kenyan Caroline Rotich, returned to Pittsburgh to defend her title. Her time was elevated from last year’s 1:09:30, and she finished seventh in 1:12:56.
Penn State graduate Tyler McCandless, 36, returned to run the full marathon in Pittsburgh for the first time since 2015 when he took fourth in a time of 2:18.29.
This year, he was all alone at the top in the men’s race.
McCandless lowered his 2015 time and won in 2:16:08. He also qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials as his time was better than the qualifying standard of 2:18.00.
“Having some experience on this course makes a big difference,” said McCandless, who separated himself at the finish by 43 seconds over runner-up Muthoni Peterson from Kenya.
“The weather was good. Maybe a touch on the warm side, but I will take this weather any day. There’s a lot worse conditions you could have. In 2015, I got passed pretty early and was in fourth from Mile 4to the finish. This time, it was a lot more fun being in first behind the press truck. The spectators knew I was in the lead, and they responded. The support really energized me. It felt like a hometown race.”
Nick Wolk, a Peters Township graduate who continued to excel at Pitt, placed third in his first full marathon.
Seventh in the half marathon last year, Wolk used his distance experience to roll through the course and cross the finish line in 2:19.10.
“Overall, I felt I ran well,” Wolk said. “It was really tough that last couple of miles. I let off the gas a little bit, but I am just happy to finish and I learned a lot. It felt good.
“The support all throughout the course really helped. There were so many nice people out there cheering. It was great to hear all of my friends cheering my name.”
Wolk missed the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying time by a little more than a minute. He said he’s looking forward to the next time he can race a marathon and go after that time standard.
Kenyan Wesley Kiptoo enjoyed setting the men’s half-marathon record so much last year that he decided to do it again.
Excited to be back after making his Pittsburgh-race debut last year, Kiptoo lowered his course-record by 4 seconds, finishing in a time of 1:01:21.
“I felt good today,” said Kiptoo, one of 22 elite male runners in the half marathon. “I started strong, and I felt great halfway through. I wanted to maintain that same feeling that I had from last year. At the end, I just wanted to celebrate and enjoy it.
“The crowd gave me a lot of energy to the finish. I was thinking of how I could thank them. I appreciated them so much.”
Kiptoo, Malone, McCandless and Diriba were four of more than 20,000 runners and hand cyclists who raced Sunday in front of more than 300,000 spectators.
West Mifflin’s Marshall Tempest, 50, won the men’s hand cycle marathon for the second year in a row. He finished in a time of 1:24.41.
Pittsburgh’s Sarah Beth won the women’s hand cycle marathon in 2:21.55.
“The weather, the enthusiasm of the spectators, the energy of the runners; it has been another terrific race weekend,” said Troy Schooley, the CEO of P3R, the engine behind the Pittsburgh Marathon and many other Pittsburgh races throughout the year.
“I was hearing about a lot of (personal bests) in a lot of the races (Sunday), but that’s not what it’s about. It’s about crossing that finish line and completing a goal. We had participants of all ages and ability levels, and there are so many great stories about why they decided to take part: for themselves, for someone else, or to raise money for one of our local or national charities. It’s great to hear those stories and see and hear the emotion that comes with it.”
Source: TribLIVE
