photo by Ty Smith
Jim Spizak, 23, of Arlington won the 37th annual Richard S. Caliguri City of Pittsburgh Great Race for the second year in a row with a running time of 28 minutes, 43 seconds. This year’s race had a record of 16,000 runners.

Street traffic builds up throughout the city. Thousands of running enthusiasts and competitors rush through a crowd of about ten thousand cheering friends and family members gathered in the city of Pittsburgh to watch one of the most widely recognized events in the city – The Great Race.

The 37th annual Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race took place on Sunday, Sept. 28 and was met with record-breaking numbers in terms of both participants and spectators.

“It’s an everyman’s race,” said Brian Katze, manager of special events for CitiParks in a phone interview before the race. “It’s all about personal goals.” 

This year, about 16,000 people participated in the race: 10,500 in the 10K and 5,500 in the 5K – the most people ever to participate in the event, according to Katze.

Before the day of the Great Race, a two-day expo was held for participants. Racers were invited to socialize as well as receive event shirts and their runner numbers at the expo.

The 10K race began at 9:30 a.m. in Frick Park in Squirrel Hill and ended outside the tunnel of Point State Park. The course takes runners down the Boulevard of the Allies and through Downtown, right through Point Park’s Academic Village, where Honors Student Organization (HSO) volunteers were waiting to hand out water to runners.

Among the thousands was Point Park University’s own Dean of Students, Keith Paylo.

Paylo said the first time he ran the race was about ten years ago. Since then, running in the race has become a tradition for himself and his wife.

“I always try and best my last time,” Paylo said before the race. “Even though I’m getting older, I’m still getting better.”

This year, the race coincided with Point Park’s annual Athletics Alumni Weekend, so attendees of the festivities were invited to “run with the Dean” as part of the weekend activities. About 40-50 Point Park students, alumni and faculty members were among the thousands who participated in the race, Paylo said.

The male winner of the 10K race was Jim Spisak, a 23-year-old runner from Arlington who also won last year’s race. He finished with an official time of 28:43, according to the Great Race website.

“I was thinking of slowing up if I had a big lead,” Spisak said at the finish line. “I wanted to get a good effort out of it.”

The winner of the female 10K was Carly Seymour, who had an official time of 34:02, according to the Great Race website.

The race, named after its founder and former mayor of Pittsburgh, Richard S. Caliguiri, started in 1977 as a relatively small community footrace, according to Katze. After Caliguiri died of Amyloidosis, a rare protein disorder, in 1988, the decision was made by race organizers to donate one dollar of each registration to research of the disease. 

Since it began, Katze said the race has grown bigger and bigger every year, and he is happy with the participation.

“No, I did not hit my mark,” Paylo said about his race time, “But I’m happy with it [and] with my lack of training [this year]. It was a spectacular day for a run, and a nice ending to the athletic alumni meeting.”