What’s the most difficult aspect of Pittsburgh Marathon training long runs? Yes- the runs themselves. But the second most difficult is finding a place to actually run them. Running ten, fourteen, or twenty miles is difficult by its very nature. It’s made all the more challenging if you have to run the same three-mile loop over and over to get your mileage in.
Living in or near a city can make this even more difficult, because of busy streets, unsafe areas, and navigating sections of roads with no sidewalks. While you can likely get by running near your home or apartment (or on a treadmill) for your shorter runs, if you’re able to drive, your best bet is going to a trail to complete your long-run mileage.
With this in mind, these are three trails in or near Pittsburgh that are ideal for marathon training long runs. While these are great training locations for any marathon, keep the following in mind when training for the Pittsburgh Marathon:
The Pittsburgh Marathon is Very Hilly
While it may sound obvious, the Pittsburgh Marathon has a lot of hills, and it’s important to keep this in mind while training. When I first decided to train for it, I discovered that it’s considered a harder marathon because of these hills. Since I love Pittsburgh, this didn’t deter me.
But I made a rookie mistake, which was not taking into account the hills while training. I completed most of my long runs (and even my shorter runs) on flat-ish trails, focusing more on the mileage than the terrain. This meant that during the marathon, my stamina held up just fine until about twenty miles in. By that point, my legs were in a lot of pain, since I hadn’t adequately prepared them for the hills. Pretty soon the pain started sapping my stamina, and the last four to six miles were brutal.
I finished the marathon, but this experience taught me a lesson! This time around (training for my second Pittsburgh Marathon) I’m incorporating more lower-body strength workouts into my cross-training. More importantly, I’m recognizing the importance of adding hills into my shorter runs, and especially into my long runs.
Of course, if you’re in the Pittsburgh area but training for a marathon elsewhere, hills might not be such a big consideration. It comes down to researching the race you’re training for and anticipating what terrain and conditions you’ll encounter!
Since a big obstacle for me when running in a new place is not knowing what to expect, here’s my experience with three trails in the Pittsburgh area that are great for long run training.
Butler-Freeport Trail
When I ran my first marathon, I did plenty of my training runs at the Butler-Freeport trail. It’s a beautiful, well-maintained trail that, as you’ve probably deduced, runs from Butler, PA to Freeport, PA. With multiple trailheads, you can choose the one closest to you, or switch up where you start your run each week!
The trail is about twenty miles long point-to-point, mostly flat with very slight hills. Depending on what time and day of the week you run, you can expect to encounter bikers, other runners, and people walking their dogs. However, I’ve always found this trail solitary even on the busiest days.
When it comes to any long run location, amenities are an important consideration. There are a few porta-potties along this trail, but depending on which section you run and how far, you may or may not encounter one. There’s also a cafe along this trail, though I haven’t visited it yet.
During my training, I ran a lot of out-and-backs on this trail starting at the Butler end. For my longest training run, I ran the entire length of the trail. It was great for my self-confidence, but in retrospect, wasn’t the strongest choice in preparing for the race. While this trail prepped me for the marathon distance, it didn’t prepare me for the hills.
That being said, if you’re looking to include biking as part of your cross-training, this could be a great place to do that. And I would certainly still recommend this trail as a training location, just keep in mind that it’s different from the conditions you’ll encounter in the Pittsburgh Marathon.
Three Rivers Heritage Trail
The Three Rivers Heritage Trail runs along both sides of Pittsburgh’s three rivers. With up-close and personal views of the city, it’s a great trail for getting excited to run the Pittsburgh Marathon. That being said, as with the Butler-Freeport trail, I wouldn’t recommend it as your only training location.
Since the trail sections follow the rivers closely, it doesn’t have many hills. According to the Friends of the Riverfront website, “the grade of the trail is about 1-2% in most places.” My experience bears this out, though I’ve only run along the north side of the river. Therefore, it would be important to incorporate hill work into your training if this trail is your primary running location. But, overall, this is a great place to run!
Since I live north of the city, I always park at the Troy Hill trailhead. The lot across from Heinz Loft Apartments is smaller and usually full. From Troy Hill, it’s only about a five-minute walk (the perfect warm-up distance!) to the trail itself.
North Park
North Park is a new go-to training spot for me! There are multiple trails in the park, but if you want to run the loop around the lake, the Boat House is a great place to park.
One loop around the lake is almost five miles, but it’s worth getting used to the repetition since this location is ideal training for Pittsburgh. The loop has some flatter sections, but plenty of hills of varying sizes. You’ll run on both sidewalks and the road, but there are dedicated running and biking lanes.
You can expect to share this trail with plenty of other athletes and dog walkers, and the roads were fairly busy. If you’re a self-conscious runner, remember that there will be lots of people watching during the marathon. Consider this an opportunity to prepare for that! Otherwise, it’s nice to get out and train amongst other runners.
There are restrooms at the boathouse, and porta-potties and restrooms all along the lake trail.
Top Pick
Of the three trails I’ve had experience with, I think North Park is best overall for Pittsburgh Marathon training because of the hills. However, since long runs can get monotonous, it’s good to have a few options to vary your training!
Are there any other trails in the Pittsburgh area I should include on this list? I’m love exploring new places to run, so let me know in the comments!