Twelve runners have toed the line in all 21 Pittsburgh Marathons
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Tammy and Don Slusser preparing for the Pittsburgh Marathon. He has run in all 21 marathons, while she has run in some (winning two); he proposed to her at the finish line of the 1986 race. -
Terry Moore of Cranberry is the youngest of the Sole Survivors. -
Joe Bujdos is among the 12 who have run in all 21 Pittsburgh Marathons. -
Tim Hewitt is among the 12 who have run in all 21 Pittsburgh Marathons. -
Donald Toy is among the 12 who have run in all 21 Pittsburgh Marathons.
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On Saturday, the night before the Pittsburgh Marathon, 12 men will be introduced at a pasta dinner at Stage AE on the North Side.
Each will receive a neon-yellow shirt with a black-and-gold design and a foot tread on the back so that everyone who sees them will know they belong to a select group: the only people who have raced in all 21 Pittsburgh Marathons. They've already been given a nickname: the Sole Survivors.
None of them ever expected to come this far. But now that they're here, about to run that 26.2-mile course for the 22nd time, they wouldn't skip the tradition for anything.
"It started out like a nationalistic kind of thing -- I was proud to be from Pittsburgh," says Don Toy of Apollo, who turns 58 today. "And one led to two and three and four. And then after five or six, it was a must-do."
Tim Hewitt once ran the race with a freshly healed tibial stress fracture. This year he will miss his daughter's college graduation in California. "It's taken on new importance now that I know I'm one of 12," he says.
Don Slusser doesn't know how well he'll perform on Sunday -- over the years he's had four surgeries on his right knee, one on his left.
"I'm still running every day," he says. "I'm running a lot slower. It's going to be a challenge -- this year especially." Still, he'll be at the starting line: "You've got to support something that you don't have to go out of town for."
Marty Klanchar ran the Boston Marathon in 3:34:49 on April 18. It's his eighth year in a row running both Boston and Pittsburgh.
"It is important for me," says Mr. Klanchar, 53, who went to the University of Pittsburgh and now lives in State College. "And I enjoy doing it as well. So both of those factors play into that." He laughs. "I'll probably continue to do it even if I have to walk it."
Some of the men run multiple marathons every year, and others run only Pittsburgh. Some rack up 60 or more miles a week, others a lot less. All of them are happy to share their philosophy about running. And their advice.
First Published May 9, 2011 12:00 am
