Medical professionals ready to care for any injury during possibly rainy 2025 Pittsburgh Marathon

PITTSBURGH — The start of the Pittsburgh Marathon is just a few hours away. It kicks off at 7 a.m. on Sunday. 

Yiming Gu of Shaler was one of the last runners to pick up his race numbers before doors closed Saturday. 

“I’m excited and I’m (sic) looking forward to this day for a while,” Gu said. 

Gu will be one of the anticipated 23,000 runners taking their marks just days after devastating storms rolled through the area. With more rain expected on race day, Gu said it’s not ideal, but he’s ready.

TRACK THE RAIN WITH OUR INTERACTIVE RADAR

“For me, the most difficult part is my feet will get soft because of the moisture, so it’s very easy to get blisters,” he said. 

Pittsburgh Marathon Medical Director Leonard Weiss said the wet weather can also cause slips and falls. That’s why more than 300 health care professionals and volunteers will be on standby at a medical tent at the finish line and stationed along the course.

“We’re ready to take care of anything from the most minor to the most severe illness or injury. We have a critical care area,” Weiss said. “We have 17 aid stations that are spread out throughout the course. We have medics that are on cycles. We have medics and ambulances, physicians, PAs, nurses. They’re all spread out and ready.”

Weiss said the best thing to do before the race is to drink plenty of water, eat a healthy meal and rest up.

That’s what Yiming Gu, 35, plans to do before running the marathon a second time after a 10-year hiatus.  

“I just want to finish alive and healthy, and really, I’m getting older,” Gu said. “I have recently had a new baby, so it’s more like being healthy and being there for the baby and role model for the baby.”

Weiss said during the marathon, they typically treat about 200 to 300 people.

Everything is in place for Sunday’s race except for the starting line. That is going to be set up overnight starting at 2 a.m.        

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