Many Pittsburgh Marathon runners take on race for personal reasons

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Marathon weekend concluded Sunday, as 20,000 people raced across Pittsburgh in the marathon, half marathon, and relay. A little rain didn't stop them, and many had their own personal reasons for crossing the finish line.

The race was on, bright and early, with runners, young and old, taking to the streets in downtown Pittsburgh.

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Carey Fittipaldo of South Fayette was one of them, who never thought she could do it after a battle with lung cancer.

"My family was very encouraging and wanted me to be able to do this and set the goal, and just really helped to make me believe in myself that I can do something like this," Carey said.

She was diagnosed in 2010 with stage 3, and eventually had surgery, and went through chemotherapy. Fourteen years later, she's cancer-free and was inspired watching her daughter, Jayna, run the half marathon last year.

"My take on it is, if she can power through that, then we can certainly power through a couple of miles," Jayna said, holding back tears.

It was Jayna's idea to get her mom and other loved ones to do the relay this time around.

"The relay was the way that we could all kind of do it together, and they took my crazy idea and ran with it," Jayna said.

They weren't the only ones running for a good cause. Angeline and Stephen Buczkowski of Plum did the same. Angeline is suffering from MS.

"Originally, when I did my first marathon, I did it to hold myself accountable with exercise because exercise is really important when it comes to managing MS," Angeline said.

This marked her second time running the full race in hopes of empowering folks just like her.

"Now, I'm trying to do it to inspire others to meet whatever goals they want to meet and just to keep going for my family," Angeline said.

They're all doing what they can to uplift themselves and anyone going through their hard times.

"Things happen in our lives, and it brings us to obstacles and challenges, but ultimately, makes us better people," Carey said.