Olympic hopeful to visit
Marathon runner Tyler McCandless has won Hawaii’s Kauai Marathon three times, and in February, he qualified for the Olympic trials.
On Thursday, the Pennsylvania native who now lives in Boulder, Colo., will visit McClellan Elementary School to help kick off West Jefferson Hills School District’s participation in Kids of Steel, held in conjunction with the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon.
Mr. McCandless, 28, an elite runner participating in the Pittsburgh marathon on May 3, is an ambassador to a local school this year as part of the marathon.
“On April 30, I’ll be at McClellan Elementary to take part in a Q&A session and take photos and run with students,” he said. Mr. McCandless also plans to bring a suitcase containing 25 pairs of running shoes for the students.
His involvement with the school will continue May 2, the day before the marathon, when he’ll run with the students in the Toyota of Pittsburgh Kids Marathon.
Kelly Hartbauer’s fifthgrade class at McClellan won the chance to meet with Mr. McCandless when students submitted a photo of themselves holding a poster with the words, “We’re Faster Than Lightning” for a contest in conjunction with the marathon. Each of the 25 students had a temporary lightning tattoo pasted on a cheek or arm.
“Mr. McCandless got to pick the winning photo from the pool of submissions,” said Michele Nichols of Mars, youth and wellness coordinator for Pittsburgh Three Rivers Marathon Inc., which produces local Pittsburgh marathon events.
About 210 McClellan students, or roughly two-thirds of the student body, will run in the Toyota of Pittsburgh Kids Marathon with 6,000 students from 10 counties, said Marie Bartoletti, physical education teacher.
Each student who registered for the May 2 kids marathon is to run 1½ miles each week for 17 weeks leading up to the race to complete 25 miles of the standard 26.2-mile marathon. The final mile will be completed at the Toyota of Pittsburgh Kids Marathon, when the youngsters run from PNC Park to the Boulevard of the Allies and Wood Street.
Mr. McCandless said he picked the photo submitted by Mrs. Hartbauer’s fifthgrade class at McClellan from a pool of 20 candidates because of the students’ slogan, “We’re Faster Than Lightning.”
“I’m working on my Ph.D. in meteorology and felt the slogan is really appropriate to my line of endeavor,” he said.
Mr. McCandless has been an ambassador at the Kauai Marathon and for other youth outreach programs.
“It’s the most fun part of professional running because working with kids brings you back to the purist part of professional running,” he said.
McClellan Elementary was a winner in another marathon contest this year. Belle Snyder, 9, of Pleasant Hills was runner-up in the slogan contest for her entry, “Race to the Point.” The school received a $100 grant.
“I chose to become an ambassador and run in the Pittsburgh marathon because I really like the organization,” he said. “They have the kids program, which is very special to me. I also grew up in Northhampton, near Allentown, and wanted to run in my home state’s biggest and most competitive marathon.”