Running in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is famous for its hundreds of public outdoor stairways, built into hillsides in neighborhoods like the South Side Slopes and Mount Washington back when the city's mill workers commuted on foot rather than by car. Local runners use these staircases for hill repeat workouts, often combining a stair climb up the hillside near the Duquesne Incline or Monongahela Incline, the century old funiculars that carry riders up Mount Washington, with a finish at the Grandview Avenue overlook above the Point.

The South Side Slopes neighborhood alone contains dozens of separate stairways, some with well over a hundred steps in a single flight, and local enthusiasts have mapped and cataloged the full network across the city. Serious Pittsburgh runners plan loop workouts connecting several staircases in one session, treating the public steps as a free, year round alternative to a stadium or parking garage stair workout.

Roughly 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, about an hour and a half by car, Ohiopyle State Park sits along the Youghiogheny River Gorge in the Laurel Highlands. The Great Allegheny Passage runs directly through the small town of Ohiopyle, so Pittsburgh runners training for long distances can drive out and log miles of crushed gravel rail trail well beyond what is practical starting from downtown.

Beyond the rail trail itself, Ohiopyle State Park has additional hiking and trail running paths, including routes past Ohiopyle Falls and other waterfalls along the Youghiogheny River. Many Pittsburgh runners treat Ohiopyle as a weekend destination, pairing a long GAP trail run with whitewater rafting or a stay in the surrounding Laurel Highlands.