PITTSBURGH – Olympic Triathlon Gold Medalist Gwen Jorgensen will make her half-marathon debut in Pittsburgh next month at the 2018 USATF Half Marathon Championships, part of 10th annual DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon weekend of events. The 31-year-old former professional triathlete announced her retirement last fall to focus on distance running, with the goal of winning gold in the 2020 Olympic Marathon in Tokyo, Japan.
“I am very excited to be making my half marathon debut at the USATF Half Marathon Championships, hosted by the DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon and P3R, and look forward to testing my limits in this new distance” Jorgensen said. “I heard the course is fast with some inclines across five bridges, finishing with a tough climb. The course also goes past the Penguins stadium, and although I have never been to Pittsburgh, I am a Penguins fan.”
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Jorgensen became the first American woman to win Olympic Gold in the Triathlon. Later that year, she ran the New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 41 minutes and 1 second, finishing 14th in her marathon debut against a world class field.
Jorgensen, who now trains with 2017 NYC Marathon champion Shalane Flanagan and the Bowerman Track Club in Portland, Oregon set a 10,000 meter personal record and winning time of 31:55.68 at the Stanford Invitational on March 30, 2018. That early season 10,000m mark currently ranks her 9th in the world.
This year’s USATF Half Marathon Championships offers an event-record guaranteed prize purse of $85,000 that goes 15-deep per gender, including a record $15,000 each for the national champions. The race is part of the USATF Running Circuit, a road race series featuring USATF Championships from one mile through the marathon.
The full list of entrants will be released in late April. For more information about the USATF Half Marathon Championships, visit: pittsburghmarathon.com/USATFHalfChampionships.
P3R shares a common goal with the USATF Running Circuit - to showcase, support and promote American athletes in the running industry. With support from SportsPITTSBURGH, P3R looks forward to increasing exposure and racing opportunities for emerging U.S. runners in the City of Pittsburgh when hosting the 2018 and 2019 USATF Half Marathon Championships for men and women.
About Pittsburgh Three Rivers Marathon, Inc. (P3R)
P3R is a nonprofit organization that is passionate about promoting a love of running and enhancing community access to health & fitness education and activities. Best known for organizing the acclaimed annual DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon, we also run a variety of other high-quality races, events, and health and fitness programs throughout the Pittsburgh region. While many of our races attract some of the nation’s highest-profile professional athletes, we offer activities for all ages and ability levels. The only criterion for participation is a desire to be happy, healthy and active! Read more at: www.p3r.org
About the USATF Running Circuit
The USATF Running Circuit is a USATF road series featuring USATF Championships from one mile through the marathon and consistently attracts the best American distance runners with more than $500,000 to be awarded in total prize money. The mission of the USATF Running Circuit is to showcase, support and promote U.S. runners. Since its inception in 1995, the USATF Running Circuit and its races have provided more than $9 million to U.S. distance runners.