Great Race brings massive crowd through campus over the weekend

photo by Chloe Jakiela
Julia Grubbs, senior dance major, refreshes a 10k Great Race runner with a cup of water along Boulevard of the Allies in Downtown Pittsburgh, Sunday Sept. 27. The Honors Program hosted a water station for the Great Race as contestants pass by Point Park University on the Boulevard of the Allies. The 38th 10k race started in Frick Park and ended in Point State Park.

Some wore camouflaged, black and yellow tutus. One, donning a New England Patriots Tom Brady jersey, juggled deflated footballs the entire time. Others wore kilts, and a few more, betrayed by the weather report, caped themselves in plastic ponchos. Regardless of their attire, they all ran.

Sixteen thousand runners participated in Pittsburgh’s annual Great Race on Sunday. The number of participants this year was a record, with 10,500 runners participating in the 10K, up by 500 from last year. The race benefits the Richard S. Caliguiri Amyloidosis Fund, which raises money for medical research for the rare protein disorder that killed Pittsburgh’s Mayor Caliguiri.

At the crowded start line, it was readily apparent that some runners took the challenge more seriously than others. While the street was lined with athletes stretching their legs, warming up, and rubbing Vaseline on their shins, Barry Goldmeier from Rockville, Md. was juggling footballs with a Tom Brady mask covering his face.

“I’m just doing this to be funny,” Goldmeier said. “I did the whole Pittsburgh Marathon like this, too.”

Others, like Mike Salamon from Squirrel Hill, wore an outfit to draw attention to themselves. In his second year running the race, Salamon donned a pink bunny outfit to promote a Christmas Story race in Cleveland, a nod to an iconic movie scene.

Those who showed up to race made themselves readily apparent, however. Sam Mueller, 23, of Auburn, Ala. darted out to a quick lead that he never relinquished. He hit the first mile in five minutes and five seconds, and by the time he hit the second mile, Mueller was a clear 200 yards in front of the other runners.

Mueller eventually won the 10k race and ended with an official time of 31:23. For the women, Clara Santucci, 28, of Dilliner, Pa. won for the third year in a row with an official time of 33:00. Santucci was even more dominant against her field, with the second place woman coming in two and a half minutes later.

In the 5K competition, Clay Burnett, 33, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio won with a time of 14:32 and his wife, Lisa, 32, won the women’s competition with a time of 18:17.

The race brought the city to life early on Sunday morning, with people lining the streets all of the way to cheer on runners. Clowns in full regalia applauded runners by the University of Pittsburgh. Steel City Greyhounds, a non-profit to promote the adoption of retired racing greyhounds, had their dogs out on the sidewalk in a fitting parallel to the racers.

The course map ran through Point Park’s campus, on Boulevard of the Allies and Wood Street. Point Park students from the Honors Program and cheerleaders were on the side of the road in front of the Boulevard Apartments and Student Center with water cups for the runners.

Mckenna Adams, a senior Forensic Psychology major, has volunteered at the tables every year she has attended Point Park.

“We had 35 students here, in both a morning and afternoon shift, and the tables got drained both races,” Adams said.

Adams couldn’t give an exact number of cups handed out, but said that of the eight tables they had set up, the water had been completely used up for both the 5K and 10K races.

Sophomore dance major Michelle Happ commented on the runners in crazy outfits at this year’s event.

“I saw a guy in a shark costume running, and another guy dressed up as a robot,” Happ said.

As she was speaking, a man wearing a homemade cake outfit, made out of cardboard that hung heavily around his shoulders, came jogging up to the students, desperately reaching out for a cup. His fake icing dripped on the asphalt as he ran by.

Some Point Park students also ran in the race. Sophomore Criminology major Elliott Carr said this was the third time he has ran in the Great Race and this year he posted his best time yet, cutting three minutes off.

“I just kept the same strategy. Shoot the gaps and run as fast as you can,” Carr said.