The Pittsburgh Marathon course

Liberty Avenue out of the Golden Triangle, on streets that have been barricaded since before two in the morning. Flat and packed shoulder to shoulder, so let the crowd do your pacing for you here.

The Strip District arrives fast: Liberty into Penn Avenue, then the jog at 30th Street. Wide road with a slight tilt in your favor, which is exactly how a mile gets away from you.

Penn Avenue delivers you to the David McCullough Bridge and the first river crossing. The deck leans up a shade and the sightlines open onto the Allegheny, so enjoy the view and ignore your watch.

Off the bridge into Deutschtown on East Ohio Street, then Chestnut and Cedar. Narrower blocks and more corners than anything you have run yet, so hold the tangents instead of drifting to the crown.

A loop of the Allegheny Commons, around the park on West, East and North Commons. The road gives a little back and the turns are gentle enough to keep your rhythm intact.

Down onto North Shore Drive past the stadium blocks, then West General Robinson and Federal Street. Still tipping downhill and still very early, which is the whole warning.

Western Avenue points you at the West End Bridge and the Ohio River. Long open span with a slight rise built into it, and no shelter from wind if the morning has any.

Through the West End on South Main and Steuben before the turn onto West Carson Street. The corners come in a bunch here and then stop coming for a long while.

Straight West Carson beneath the Mount Washington bluff, one road and no decisions. Level and quiet enough that pace can drift either direction without you noticing, so check in once.

Carson switches from West to East as the course swings toward the South Side, and the road leans up for the first real time. Treat it as a preview, not a test.

East Carson Street through the South Side flats, straight and level with storefronts either side. This is the last mile the course gives you for free.

Sidney Street feeds onto the Birmingham Bridge and the long grind to Oakland is already under way. The bridge lifts you off the Monongahela and Forbes Avenue takes over from there.

Forbes Avenue, and this is the steepest part of the whole thing. Pick an effort you could hold twice as long, because the climb does not top out until mile 16.

Halfway lands in Oakland with Saint Paul Cathedral above you, then South Craig Street. The grade eases without ending, which makes it a good place to be honest about what the first half cost.

Shadyside next: the Walnut Street shop blocks, then Fifth Avenue and South Aiken. Dead level for once, so use it to get turnover back before the last of the climbing.

South Highland Avenue up to Penn finishes what Forbes started, and the summit comes just past this marker. Everything from here is a different race.

Penn Avenue tips over toward North Braddock Avenue and gravity finally works for you. Let it roll rather than hammering it, because your quads still have nine miles of work ahead.

North Braddock into Frankstown Avenue through Homewood, still drifting down. The field is strung out by now, so run your own effort instead of whoever happens to be in front of you.

Frankstown hands off to East Liberty Boulevard, open and level. Take fluid and settle in, because the road turns up again before mile 20 is done.

East Liberty Boulevard onto North Highland Avenue, and the last climb of the day shows up at the worst possible moment. It averages barely over one percent, but at twenty nothing feels gentle.

Bryant Street and North Negley Avenue send you back downhill through Highland Park. The hard climbing is behind you and the road is on your side again.

Negley Avenue crosses onto Baum Boulevard, giving back height in small pieces. Wide pavement and few turns, so hold the pace you already have rather than going looking for a new one.

Baum Boulevard becomes Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield, level ground under your feet. Whatever is left in the tank, this is the mile to decide how you are spending it.

Liberty Avenue falls away here, the biggest descent anywhere on the course. Free speed if your legs will accept it and a quad wrecker if they will not, so keep the stride short and quick.

The bottom of the drop flattens out onto Liberty through the Strip District. One straight road, no turns to think about, and the finish already lies in the direction you are facing.

Back into the Golden Triangle: Liberty, a turn at Smithfield Street, then the Boulevard of the Allies. Downtown closes in around you and the noise comes with it, which is all the pacing help anyone needs.