The Northside Nemesis is a half marathon foot race on March 15th across 43 sets of city steps spread over 10 neighborhoods on Pittsburgh's Northside. Boasting 3,500 feet of elevation gain in 13.2 miles and thousands of stairs, the Nemesis is punishingly true to its namesake.
The course will be marked with small, laminated placards that indicate directionally heading left, right, or straight ahead; and paper copies of the map will be available at race check-in, if desired. It is HIGHLY recommended, however, that you familiarize yourself with the route before the race. Please feel free to load the .gpx data into your device if so desired to better assist with route tracking (found HERE).
This route crosses MANY un-attended intersections on major arterial local roadways. Please exercise the highest level of caution when crossing ALL roads, as there are not always crosswalks or other infrastructure solutions available. Much of the route utilizes smaller, neighborhood roads; but these as well are still in use, and no portion of this route has been blocked off or attended to.
We suggest each participant have a method to reach an emergency contact while en route. There is no medical or operational support provided along the route by the race at any point. Please have or acquire the means to assist yourself or other participants if need be, upon one's own volition. The Northside Nemesis assumes no medical liability.
We value your privacy, and all personal information that is provided is by request only, and can be refused. No personal information, which is voluntarily provided, will be retained or distributed. Participation will not be limited to registration: this is a race on a fully open course, all in public spaces. This is an unchecked route on race day, and others may be occupying space along the route. Please be kind, respectful, and safe!
The Northside Nemesis does not have a conventional start or finish process. Participants may begin the race any time between 8am and 9am. A timing application will track each runner's individual start and finish times against a master clock.
Registration consists of a three-step process; there is no pre-registration.
To finish, simply return your bib tag to the Timing Marshall, and your finish time will be recorded. Your race result will be available onsite, and later that day via your chosen delivery method, if desired.
All participants should anticipate finishing by 12pm; so if you feel it will take longer, start closer to 8am; if you are a confidently quick runner, you may want to trend towards a later start time, before 9am. The goal is two-fold: so that more participants may interact along the route, and so that the bulk of participants will finish closer to the same time.
Podium placement will be determined by overall race finish time, with no specific categories broken out by gender, age, handicap, etc. While there are no awards or medals for this race, we are proud to honor deserved excellence in achievement.