City of Pittsburgh Bans Large Gatherings Through May 10

March 17, 2020

Efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 virus include canceling the 2020 DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend of events

PITTSBURGH (March 17, 2020) — The City of Pittsburgh announced that, in accordance with guidance from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, it has banned all gatherings of 50 or more people during the eight-week period beginning March 15, 2020, as part of the city’s efforts to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This includes the DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend of events scheduled May 1-3, 2020, effectively canceling the event.

“All of us at P3R are disappointed and frustrated that this year’s DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon has been canceled,” said Troy Schooley, P3R CEO. “But we know that this is really the only decision the City of Pittsburgh could make given the current environment and that it’s the right thing to do to ensure the safety of our participants, staff, volunteers, medical professionals, security personnel and spectators.”

Each registered participant will have the option to race virtually (running at home or in other safe spaces) to earn their finisher medal, event shirt, and premium giveaway of custom Knockaround sunglasses. P3R hopes that runners can come together virtually to #MOVEPittsburgh and accomplish the goal of running around the world five times — that’s more than 125,000 miles!

“These runners have trained for several months, putting in so much effort and sacrificing their time to prepare to run their races,” Schooley said. “Everyone deserves to run the race that they trained for and earn their medal, even if that’s not going to be in person this year.”

If the virtual race option doesn’t work for someone, they can also choose to receive a refund of their registration fee.

For more information about the event and registrant options, please visit: www.ThePittsburghMarathon.com.

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About the DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon

The Pittsburgh Marathon was held annually from 1985-2003. After a five-year hiatus, the DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon was relaunched in 2009 and debuted with a sold-out field of 10,000 participants. It has grown each year since, evolving from a single race day into a weekend of events for the whole family that annually attracts almost 40,000 runners.   Read more at: ThePittsburghMarathon.com

 FACEBOOK: DSGPM         TWITTER: @PghMarathon        INSTAGRAM: pghmarathon

About P3R

P3R is the engine behind Pittsburgh’s greatest races. We strive to inspire any and all to run with us. Best known for organizing the acclaimed annual DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon, P3R runs a variety of other high-quality races, events, and health and fitness programs throughout the Pittsburgh region. While many of our races attract some of the nation’s highest-profile professional athletes, we offer activities for all ages and ability levels. Anyone and everyone is invited to #RUNwithP3R! Read more at:P3R.org

FACEBOOK:  RUNwithP3R         INSTAGRAM: RUNwithP3R      TWITTER:  @RUNwithP3R