The Post-Gazette recently profiled West Penner Tom Abbott.

Great Race tradition goes on for Indiana Township man

Tom Abbott makes it look easy as he runs along Rich Hill Road near his Indiana Township home, his long strides appearing effortless as he glides along the pavement. At 52, he’s lithe and healthy and could pass for a much younger man. He’s also one of only 26 runners who have competed in every Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race since it began in 1977.

Congratulations go to WPTC member Marti Stephan who took first in the women’s 65-69 group at the Parkersburg Half Marathon with a time of 1:57:06. Keep up the good work!

The 30th Anniversary Great Race is nearly upon us! If you’d like to run for a West Penn team, contact your team captain or John Harwick (competitions committee chair).

Don’t forget to wear your WPTC singlet! If you need to order one, download and mail in the order form or use the form provided in recent newsletters.

Also, be on the lookup for an informal gathering of West Penners near the finish line. Details coming soon…

Are you a student at Pitt, CMU, or another one of Pittsburgh’s 13 institutions for higher learning? Are you looking for a friendly and relaxed group of people to run with? If so, come join a group I like to call “Hump Day at the Track”.

Every Wednesday at 6PM we meet at CMU’s track to train together. There’s a wide variety of ages and levels of participation there. Some folks walk together. Some run repeats together. Others do their own thing at their own pace. It’s a friendly and inclusive group and new faces are always welcome. Contact Ken Krynski for more info.

If you don’t live close enough to CMU to train with us, or you’re just looking for a different kind of group, be sure to check out our list of training groups.

P.S. If there are any active training groups missing from our list, be sure to let the webmaster know. Thanks.

Congratulations go to WPTC member Larry Van Dyke who won the 2007 Run Around the Square 5K with a time of 17:42. Keep up the good work!

In 1868, author James Parton described Pittsburgh as “hell with the lid off”, in reference to the poor air quality due to the numerous smoke-spewing mills operating at the time. America’s most livable city may not be the Smoky City anymore, but that doesn’t mean that ours is the best air to breathe - let alone run in. That’s why I think the following article at Complete Running Network should be read by Pittsburgh’s runners.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Ultra-Marathoner to Run 63 Marathons in 63 Days
For Children with Incurable Disease

Pittsburgh, PA will be a Stop on the A-T CureTour

On July 20, WPTC, “the most comprehensive club in Pittsburgh”, was mentioned in the Tribune-Review.

Pittsburgh offers many running club options

Runners often lament the state of the sport in Pittsburgh.

Common complaints are there aren’t as many serious runners as there used to be, that times at local competitions are getting slower and that the number of runners is dropping as the population ages.

But Pittsburgh still has its fair share of running clubs, which range from the social People Who Run Downtown and Hash House Harriers to the more intense, training and race-based Pharaoh Hounds and Western Pennsylvania Track Club.