Marathon runners fear hitting the wall, the name for the great depletion and exhaustion of the body that can strike after 20 miles or so. The Pittsburgh Marathon would have reached its 20th milestone in May had it not been canceled. Now, that wall it hit seems permanent, and the city is left to count its loss.

As Post-Gazette reporter Pohla Smith reported in a front-page story Saturday, city of Pittsburgh officials and private organizers have given up hope of reviving the race in 2005. That doesn't mean it will not reappear in the future, but, like a runner who stops for a long time mid-journey, the chances of restarting are not encouraging.

The city's continuing financial distress is part of the problem but, even if Pittsburgh were flush with money, the marathon would need a major sponsor, and none has been found to replace the loss of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center as a prime backer.

Next month, the Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race returns after a one-year absence. As welcome as that is, the 10K race is not in the same league as a race of 26.2 miles. When Pittsburgh prospered, both races complemented each other.

The blow to Pittsburgh can be counted in several ways. The marathon was a great community event that took a circuitous journey highlighting the city's strengths -- its neighborhoods. Although churchgoers saw their routines disrupted, most adjusted over the years and good will grew. The great annual influx of out-of-town runners did more than swell merchants' coffers -- it confronted Pittsburgh's image problem in the most practical way possible. By experiencing the city's beauty and friendliness on foot, visitors could shed their old misimpressions.

Worse, the loss of the marathon seems sadly emblematic. Other cities our size have marathons -- Cleveland, Cincinnati -- but Pittsburgh will not. Taken together with US Airways' decision to end direct flights to Europe, the loss of the race comes as another symptom of community decline, another cut in a slow death by a thousand cuts.