Marathoners putting a stop to stigma of walking during a race.

At the Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon last year, several spectators made signs to encourage the runners to finish the 26.2 miles. One in Highland Park on the 20th mile read, “This is a nowalk block.” Another sign on the course displayed a photo of actor Christopher Walken with the simple caption, “No walking.”

While good-intentioned, the makers of these signs probably didn’t realize walking a marathon isn’t always because a runner has given up. In fact, the Steel City Road Runners trained a group of more than 50 marathoners and half marathoners this year for the May 3 race in the run-walk-run method — a way of completing long distances using a combination of running and, yes, walking.

Victor Siclari is a coach of the run-walk-run training group who will be competing in his third marathon. He said the stigma of walking or damaging a runner’s pride shouldn’t discourage someone from the method.

“There’s less than 1 percent of people that actually complete a marathon,” he said. “So, whether you walk it, run it or walk-run, it’s an accomplishment. If you need to take a walk break in order to do it, I think that’s a lot better than people who never try.”

Jeff Galloway, a former Olympian, developed the run-walk-run method in the mid-1970s after trying to teach a class of beginning runners at a local university near his home in Atlanta. He realized running outright for doubledigit miles was not only daunting but dangerous.

“If you place the walk break early enough and often enough, you allow the muscles, the joints, the tendons, and your energy supply to adapt and to get a resurgence,” Galloway said. “You don’t build up debilitating stress and you don’t produce extreme fatigue.”

By the end of the class, each runner had completed a 10K or 5K, and no one had endured any injuries. With the success, Galloway fine-tuned the method, coming up with a formula to determine the specific time intervals a runner should walk and run for based on the “magic mile” — the best time someone can run a mile without over-exertion.

The intervals can range from the beginning level of 30 seconds running, 30 seconds walking, up to a more competitive level of running for six minutes and walking for 40 seconds. While originally aimed at beginners, those recovering from injuries or older runners, the method is now used by more serious competitors — the best recorded marathon time being around 2 hours, 28 minutes.

Steel City Road Runners coach Dave Spell qualified for the Boston Marathon last year while using the method, beating his previous time by 11 minutes and clocking a 2:59. He was inspired after speaking to Galloway at a running expo in Pittsburgh that year and liked the idea of a timer helping him focus during the race, signaling when to run and when to walk.

“You go beep to beep. You can’t get lost in the race,” Spell said. “You’re only thinking to that next beep.”

And while he said he didn’t doubt he could have broken his personal record if he had fully trained in the method beforehand, he was impressed more by how the method helped his recovery time than his speed.

Spell came home after the grueling race and mowed his lawn. He ran a half marathon two weeks later.

Galloway said this is because even while running at a faster-than-usual pace during the running intervals, the walking breaks make it feel like a runner has only gone a few miles when actually completing 10.

Danielle Yeager, another coach of the training group, said what she admires is how this method gives runners of all levels confidence and is inclusive.

“It makes running available to anybody, because anybody can do it,” she said.

Married couple Jennifer Cicchini and Jeff Cicchini are part of the training group and will run their first marathon this year in Pittsburgh. Even though he and his wife will be running an extreme distance, Jeff Cicchini said the method doesn’t make the task seem so laborious.

“It’s not about how fast you finish the race, it’s about the idea that you finish,” Cicchini said. “And that’s the whole method. And it’s fun. It’s enjoyable.”