Expo, schedule and race morning

Packet pickup

• Friday, May 1, 2026 (VIP only): 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM ET
• Friday, May 1, 2026 (general public): 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM ET
• Saturday, May 2, 2026: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET

• Mandatory expo pickup for every Sunday event: 'If you are participating in any of our Sunday events you must come to the Expo to get your race bib and event shirt' - marathon, UPMC Health Plan Half Marathon, FedEx Marathon Relay, GNC 4-Mile Fitness Challenge. The last chance is Saturday, May 2 at 5:00 PM ET; there is no Sunday race-morning pickup listed.
• Bring your bib number AND a photo ID to claim your packet.
• Proxy pickup is allowed but strict: the person collecting must show their own photo ID, a completed packet pickup slip, and the participant's bib number.
• Look up your bib number before you go (site says 'Bib Lookup coming soon' as of the August 2026 check).
• Expo is the only place to swap your shirt size - done at Participant Services. Confirm bib details before leaving the expo; corrections are handled at Participant Services.
• Clear gear check bag is picked up at the expo, next to Participant Services - if you skip the expo you have no gear bag for Sunday.
• Site wording conflict: the intro says the expo 'kicks off race weekend on Friday, May 1 at 11 AM for the general public', while the hours block lists a 10:00-11:00 AM ET Friday window as VIP ONLY. Both readings recorded; general public should plan for 11 AM Friday.
• Saturday-event runners get a race-morning alternative the Sunday runners do not: 5K and Champions Mile 6:30-7:45 a.m. in Red Lot 5 (West General Robinson St at Mazeroski Way) - the 7:45 a.m. cutoff is before the 8:30 a.m. Champions Mile start; Kids Marathon from 8 a.m. in Red Lot 5; Toddler Trot 7:30-8:45 a.m. at the Kids of STEEL tent in Point State Park; Pet Walk 10-11:45 a.m. at the Humane Animal Rescue tent in Point State Park.
• 5K bibs at Saturday pickup are sorted by number, not alphabetically; Champions Mile, Kids Marathon, Toddler Trot and Pet Walk bibs are sorted alphabetically by last name.
• Expo is free and open to the public; organizers report over 95,000 attendees, so allow extra time.

August 2026

The published weekend schedule

2026 race weekend is May 1-3, 2026. Sourced from the race's own Expo page and 2026 Schedule of Events page, checked August 2026; times are ET and subject to change. The practical trap: every Sunday event requires expo pickup, and the expo closes Saturday at 5:00 p.m. ET, roughly 14 hours before the corrals open at 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

Getting there

Two separate problems: getting to the corral, and getting back to your room after 26.2 miles. The car solves neither. Closures run from about 1:45 a.m. Sunday to roughly 2:30 p.m., with most roads targeted to reopen by 3 to 3:30 p.m. and the finish area on the Boulevard of the Allies not until about 6 to 6:30 p.m. P3R posts no-parking signs along every closed street and will tow vehicles left on them, so if your rental is on a street rather than in a garage, move it Saturday. Downtown bus access is heavily restricted on race morning, so light rail plus your feet is the reliable combination. Buy fares in advance or use mobile ticketing; PRT's TrueTime tracking is not reliable for detoured buses and detour notices are not posted at stops.

• Wood Street (light rail). Your downtown rail stop, inside the walking ring for all four measured hotels. Light rail keeps regular service through race day while buses are detoured out of the Triangle, so this is the sane arrival and departure point. Note that the Boulevard of the Allies closure between Wood and Stanwix starts at noon Friday, so the street outside is already shut before you arrive.
• Liberty Ave and Tito Way. The downtown surface stop closest to the start-line hotels. Useful as a pickup or drop point on Saturday and for the walk in on Sunday, but assume no bus is coming to it during the race window: detoured routes are pushed out to the busway rather than into the closed grid.
• Penn Station Stop B / Stop C and the Penn Station-Steel Plaza rail shuttle. This is how buses reach downtown on race day. Detoured routes drop off on the East Busway at Penn Station and pick up nearby, and PRT runs a Penn Station to Steel Plaza rail shuttle from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. From Steel Plaza it is a short downtown walk to the start hotels, and the same shuttle is your route back if you are staying east.
• 84M Oakland-Squirrel Hill shuttle. Free temporary PRT shuttle running mornings until about 3:30 p.m. It exists because the course cuts Oakland off, and it is the practical way for an Oakland or Squirrel Hill base to move around during the race. PRT explicitly warns this extra service cannot be guaranteed because of staffing.
• 88 Penn Special and Route 50 Carson (temporary). The 88 Penn Special runs 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. serving the hospitals, and a temporary Route 50 Carson runs noon to 3:30 p.m. Both are contingency service rather than runner service, but the 50 Carson window is worth knowing if you finish late and need to get south of the river before the grid reopens.
• Getting back after the finish. You finish on the Boulevard of the Allies, and that street stays closed until roughly 6 to 6:30 p.m., long after you want to be horizontal. Which is exactly why the two-to-three-minute hotels matter: you walk out of the chute and into the lobby. No rideshare is reaching the finish area, and driving out is a 3 p.m. proposition at the earliest.
• Dinner the night before. Meat & Potatoes at 649 Penn Avenue in the Cultural District is a few blocks' walk from all four measured hotels and does an early, unfussy plate of pasta or roast chicken. Reserve, because marathon Saturday fills the Cultural District. Treat the address as a general-knowledge recommendation rather than something confirmed against an official page in this pass.

Parking near the course endpoints

These are mapped garages near the course, not a promise of race-day access. Check closures and pre-booking rules with the organizer.

• Mellon Square Garage3 minute modeled walk to start
• Grant Street Transportation Center5 minute modeled walk to start
• 6th and Penn Garage6 minute modeled walk to start
• Forbes Garage7 minute modeled walk to start
• Ft. Duquesne & Sixth Garage7 minute modeled walk to start
• Manor Building8 minute modeled walk to start
• Pittsburgh Parking Court8 minute modeled walk to start
• Pittsburgh Parking Authority10 minute modeled walk to start
• Forbes Garage11 minute modeled walk to start
• Locust Garage11 minute modeled walk to start

Published entry tiers

Checked 2026-08-27; fees and tiers can change.