For Ron Brown, waiting for marathon day is like waiting for Christmas morning: Sunday will be his 60th time racing all 26.2 miles.

“You get apprehensive,” said Brown, 55, of West Deer, days before the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon. “But once you get across that starting line, that goes away for me.”

He ran his first marathon in Pittsburgh 2010. He said it was one of those things where “you say you’re not going to do it again.” Now, he generally runs three or four marathons a year. One year, he ran 11.

“It started as an innocent thing,” said Brown, a former firefighter who now works for Costco. “All of a sudden, it started snowballing into an addiction.”

Huge time commitment

The training that goes into preparing to run a full marathon can be long and arduous. The preparation isn’t just physical, either — finishing a marathon is a mental game as well, runners said.

Brown, who has played soccer his whole life and works as a referee, mostly relies on cross-training — physical activity that isn’t solely running.

For someone starting from zero, Frank Velasquez, director of sports performance for Allegheny Health Network, said at least 16 weeks are needed to for training ahead of time. For someone starting with running experience, marathon training can be completed in 10-12 weeks.

For beginnings, the formula includes running at least three times a week, completing strength training one or two times a week and then having a couple recovery days per week. The recovery days can include activities that aren’t hard on joints like yoga, for example, Velasquez said.

“It’s hard to find time to do that,” he said. “The full marathon is a time commitment.”

The three running days usually should include two midweek runs that are around five or six miles, and one longer run on the weekend that steadily increases in mileage, according to Velasquez.

Once the longer runs hit 15 miles, he recommended “stair-stepping” the mileage from then on. Stair-stepping means bumping the mileage down before bumping it up even higher the next week.

“Run as little as possible,” he said. “You don’t want to overdo it.”

However, more advanced athletes will run four or five times a week, he said. As the marathon approaches, he recommended doing less strength training. Velasquez said marathoners shouldn’t wear any new outfits or shoes for the big day.

“Training is the toughest part of the marathon without a doubt,” Velasquez said. “It’s just a lot of energy on race day. … No one ever feels 100%, but the goal is to get to the start line.”

Running a marathon is a mental challenge, as it’s pushing one’s inner limits to the edge, according to Velasquez, who has run four of them in addition to several half marathons.

“There’s a difference,” he said, comparing the two races. “If you lack training, your body will pay for it — your performance will pay for it.”

There’s a lot of “alone thinking” time when running a marathon.

“It’s hard to prepare mentally for it,” he said. “You just gotta go through it — that’s the beauty of it: navigating in the dark.”

The walk-run method is popular right now, according to Velasquez. He conceded that it’s hard to drink water while running.

Finishing the marathon in around five hours is a good target for first-timers, he said.

“Most people aren’t racing it; they’re just trying to finish it,” he said. “It’s a pretty rigorous activity. … Some people fall in love with it and want to do it again, others check the box and move on.”

Most marathon training programs won’t have athletes run the full 26.2 ahead of the actual race — they will instead have athletes run up to 20 miles before marathon day.

Training for a marathon shouldn’t be a last-minute decision, according to Dr. Thaddeus Pajak, family medicine physician and medical director of the obesity medicine program at Independence Health.

“Folks should be preparing six months ahead,” he said.

Anyone who is not comfortable running 18 or 20 miles at their running pace should not consider running a full marathon, Pajak said. Otherwise, there are risks involved, such as dehydration and stress fractures.

“You want to be able to run 85-90% of that race distance,” he said. “If you’re not comfortable with that, that’s just a recipe for disaster.”

Running for health or the challenge

Pajak, who ran cross country and track for Saint Vincent College, also advised runners not to do anything new ahead of the race or on race day.

“You have to be consistent with the types of nutrition, equipment and preparation leading up to the marathon,” he said.

For example, those who drink coffee every morning should continue — even on the day of the marathon, Pajak said.

Training and running for the half marathon can be healthier, according to Pajak, depending on people’s individual running goals.

“Exercise is exponentially good for your health, but there comes a point of diminishing return,” he said. “There’s something noble about being a competitive marathon runner. … But if your goal is health, those middle distances are beneficial.”

Running 10 miles per week can help people live 10 years longer compared to peers who don’t, according to Pajak. Additionally, half marathon runners have better mental health, fewer chronic illnesses and take fewer medicines than the general population, he said.

For those deciding to run a marathon for the first time, Pajak recommended talking to their doctor ahead of time at their routine exam.

“We would be able to guide people if they need any specific tests or if they need to build up endurance,” he said.

Elite runners at the front of the line

In terms of body composition, Pajak said the marathon runners at the front of the starting line — including the elite runners — have a similar look.

“The lean wolf leads the pack,” he said, which is a saying in distance running. “It’s not that people are trying to get extremely lean or skinny to be good marathon runners — it’s sort of what happens.”

The energy source for running is glycogen. Marathon runners store energy in the form of glycogen in their muscles instead of in fat tissue, according to Pajak.

It almost becomes difficult to put on any fat mass when running 18 or 20 miles consistently in preparation for race day, Pajak said. Most marathon runners will be running 50-80 miles per week leading up to the marathon.

“You couldn’t store fat if you wanted to,” he said.

The first 16 miles: A warm-up

Velasquez said he personally treats the first 16 miles as a warm-up for a 10-mile race, as that’s when he decides if he wants to just make it through or go for a new personal best.

“You kind of use the first 16 to determine how you finish the last 10,” he said.

Julia Urban will run her seventh marathon on Sunday in the elite athlete category. She started running after she gave birth to her oldest son nine years ago for her mental health more than anything. Her first marathon was in Pittsburgh in 2019.

“My dad actually signed me up,” she said.

Urban, 33, of Norvelt, said she takes three months to prepare for a marathon, but she still runs year-round. She also trains her nutrition to take in enough running gels and carbs per hour during the race.

“I have finished every one, but my first few marathons, I did not have a clue what I was doing,” she said. “My first marathon … I didn’t fuel at all when I was running — at mile 18 I physically felt like I could not move any farther.”

Now, she takes in about 60-80 grams of carbs per hour while running, Urban said.

The last few miles of the marathon are 100% mental, according to Urban, and for her, it’s a team effort. She said she has a good support system to be able to compete.

“I think that’s important for everyone … to have support,” she said. “It’s a really mentally taxing thing to prepare for.”

Though 26.2 miles can feel impossible, Urban said progress isn’t linear.

“Just because you’re not feeling 100% every day doesn’t mean you’re not getting better or stronger,” she said of getting past mental hurdles. “It can be mind-blowing to see how much farther you really can run.”

Brandon Quinn, who will run his sixth marathon on Sunday, also has a great support system, he said, which helps with training.

He doesn’t run year-round, but he starts training for the Pittsburgh Marathon at the start of the new year at the latest.

“It’s knowing that whenever you get frustrated, and you feel like you can’t keep on running, you gotta have something … to look forward to,” said Quinn, 36, of Harrison City. “It’s just knowing that you’re working toward a smaller goal in order to accomplish a longer goal.”

Leading up to the big day, Brown said he will save his energy and not overdo anything a couple days beforehand. Additionally, similar to other marathoners he will also carb up before the race by eating a lot of pasta, bread and similar foods.

“Mentally, you just gotta have the right attitude that you’re going to finish,” Brown said, and encouragement from supporters helps, too.

Race day

Dr. Aaron Mares, UPMC sports medicine physician and associate medical director of the Pittsburgh Marathon, said the biggest challenge for runners can be unpredictable weather.

“Really pay attention to the weather,” he said. “Be aware of what the conditions are.”

If there’s early rain, he said athletes sometimes don’t shed their wet clothes, which can trap heat when it gets warmer out later on in the race. The marathon has even seen snow in the past, he said.

For this weekend, the weather looks to be a little above average in terms of temperature — but not as warm as it was last Sunday and Monday, according to Matt Brudy, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

He said there is a chance for some rain, and it will be mostly cloudy — limiting the temperature from rising too high.

There will be 17 medical aid stations throughout the course, and one finish line tent, which is a field hospital of sorts, according to Mares. The finish line tent includes 36 general care beds and eight critical care beds, Mares said.

Most common injuries can include strains and sprains, and more serious medical situations can include heat illnesses, exercise-associated collapse and chest pain or other heart issues, according to Mares.

Logistical planning includes knowing how to get injured athletes to the appropriate medical care, he said.

“Hydration is obviously key — drink when you’re thirsty,” Mares said. “Listen to your body, your body will tell you if there’s a problem, and if there’s a problem, you need to stop and get it checked out.”

Finishing the marathon and doing better each time are Brown’s main goals, he said, but since he’s completed so many, he now tries to help others get through the race.

“I try to help,” he said. ‘If I find out there’s somebody doing their first marathon, I’ll try to help them out — try to help them finish.”

Marathoners meet each other by talking to different people at the race, he said.

“There’s times when you’re going to want to quit, but … keep going forward,” Brown said.

And just because he’s running his 60th marathon doesn’t mean he always runs without stopping.

“There will be times if I have to go to the bathroom,” Brown said. “There will be times where I have to walk.”

‘Natural high’

The Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon is “one big party” for the local running community, according to Brown.

Long distance and endurance runners have less anxiety and depression than the average population, according to Pajak.

“There is a runner’s high that comes with (the experience),” said Pajak, of Independence Health. “It just feels so good and then as you get approaching that two-hour mark, that’s when you start to rely on your training.”

Mile 20

After mile 20 is when runners must start to tap into their mental energy reserve, as the marathon is a very emotional experience, Pajak said. No one feels good the whole time.

Brown said he can’t wait to arrive at the starting line on Sunday.

“Just the camaraderie of the running community — just the natural high of finishing a marathon is unbelievable.”

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