Pittsburgh Pharaoh Hounds Running Club

06/23/2026

10 years of track duels! Thanks to everyone who came out on a beautiful night for the Pittsburgh Pharaoh Hounds 10th Annual Petite Track Meet. Special thanks to Gingerbread Man Running Co. and Fireside Events LLC for everything. Link to more photos in bio. Credit to Al's Graphix and for the snaps.

04/28/2025

It’s that time of year again: Petite Track Meet is back for its 9th iteration!

Come run a lightning fast 100, mile, 5k, or anything in between on a resurfaced track! $20 gets you an all-you-care-to-race event, so sign up for as many or as few as you want (you can scratch day-of if you’re not feeling like racing that 800 after your 3k, for example). All events will utilize FAT timing to make sure your time is accurate.
We kick things off with mile heats at 6pm and will continue events in the order listed on the poster, finishing with the 4x400m relay.
Online registration is open until 5pm on Saturday, June 14th. We will have limited, on-site registration day-of from 4pm-5pm.
Questions? Send us a DM or email [email protected]

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/595485/register

08/12/2024

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Feral Hounds, the Pharaoh Hounds team which conquered the Ragnar Trail Appalachians Trail Relay with a 1st place finish in the Mixed Open Division on a wild & wonderful weekend in West Virginia. The crew was comprised of 8 runners who each completed 3 different loops with 14.6 miles of muddy, rain soaked trail featuring 2056 ft of elevation up rocky hills. The race started for the Hounds at 4 pm on Friday and continued through the night, finishing around 10:30 am Saturday morning. Sleep was sparse, but speed was plentiful, as Laura Harnish and Andrew Krupp paced the women’s and men’s teams, respectively, with the fastest legs on the course. Rounding out the team were Gretchen Swabe, Kristin Rhoa, Kristie Johnson, Colin Sawyer, Lars Johnson, and David Ledet. Who knows, maybe the team will run it back next year without the rain? GO HOUNDS!

06/22/2024

Thanks to everyone who came out last week to the Pittsburgh Pharaoh Hounds 8th Annual Petite Track Meet - our biggest one yet! We were stoked to have so many athletes of different ages, backgrounds, and abilities share the track on a beautiful summer evening. Special thanks to those who made this possible, including all of the Hounds who organized and worked the event, for sponsoring and timing, .events for DJ’ing and announcing, for helping with the athletes’ PT needs, Tim Flynn for the awesome photos (a few of which are featured with this post), Jo Rupp for getting the races started, and Tim Wu for the shaved ice and high fives.  We hope to see you all again next year!

06/14/2024

It's meet day! We can't wait to see you all at Schenley Oval tonight! Here's the key info you need as we approach the meet.

1) CONFIRM YOUR REGISTRATION AND EVENTS

Registration and race entry adjustments close fully at 5pm Friday 6/14
Make sure you have fully registered , submitted payment, and received an email confirmation. This needs to be completed by 5pm.
Please register for ALL events you may run, you are able to scratch/remove yourself from an event after 5pm but you cannot add

2) WHEN YOUR ARRIVE AT SCHENLEY OVAL
If you registered online, no need to check in until your event is called! If you still need to register, we'll be available for in-person registration 4 - 5 PM at the track.
Please be present and listen for check-in for your events being called over the speaker system throughout the evening. The meet starts at 6 PM.
Prior to each event you are competing in, check in will be announced over the speaker system, approximately 20 - 30 minutes prior to running.
When check in for your event is called, report to the check-in tent to confirm you are on site and receive your hip numbers need to race.
If you would like to scratch/remove yourself from an event please report to the check-in tent.
Heat sheets will be posted in advance at the check-in tent. These can be used to see if your event has multiple heats and which heat you are assigned to

3) IN CASE OF BAD WEATHER ???
The Petite Track Meet is on, rain or shine! There is no rain date.
For safety, if there is thunder, we will pause events and ask participants to seek shelter for 30 minutes following.
We will fit in as many events as possible before ending at 10 PM.

06/08/2024

Hounds Hit the Track! Cheers to Claire Collison, Steve Kirkland, Eric Shafer, Pete Danielson, Tolson Bell, and David Ledet as they opened the summer track season at Pittsburgh Track Club’s Night at the Island and the 32nd annual Gateway Mile.

Claire Collison stole the track lights at Night at the Island with a blazing 4:54 in the Women’s Elite Mile - one of the fastest times in Hounds history. Pete Danielson executed a near perfect 5k, with even splits taking him to a 17:45 finish. David Ledet also ran. The pack was cheered on by a big Hounds family, including Laura Harnish, Jim Spisak, Jim Hommes, Tim Wu, Tom Danielson, and Jo Rupp.

At the Gateway Mile, the Hounds unleashed more speed. Steve Kirkland fought his way to a 4:32 season opening mile just a few weeks after his 14th place 2:31 finish at the Pittsburgh Marathon. Tolson Bell continued his stellar form with a 4:50 mile PB. Claire Collison was the first woman across the line in 4:58 for her second sub-5 mile in 5 days.

We caught up with David Ledet and Eric Shafer after they finished their heats at the Gateway Mile and asked them how it went. The two men were slightly preoccupied with counting their age group cash, but David noted that neither of them missed a left turn.

Thanks to for the pic of Claire and .fotos for the shot of Ledet.

06/02/2024

We are 12 days out from our 2024 Petite Track Meet. If you are any age, any ability, and want to come run fast or just try your hand at a new event, this is for you. We welcome all age groups and experience levels.

New this year, we will have 1:11 Juice Bar to keep you fueled and hydrated between events: https://111juicebar.com/!

And returning yet again is Tim Wu with his famous shaved ice.

Register here: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/554015/register or at the link in our bio.
We’ll have on-site registration starting at 4 pm on 6/14. ALL REGISTRATION closes at 5pm on meet day (you can still scratch from events, but you cannot add additional events). Questions? Slide into our DMs!

Meet results and team scores.

05/10/2024

Pittsburgh Marathon race recap: Hounds Fetch Fast Times!

Laura Harnish’s 6th place in the Pittsburgh Marathon and Claire Collison’s 12th in the Half headlined a great day of running for the Pittsburgh Pharaoh Hounds. Laura’s impressive 2:51:07 and Claire’s speedy 1:22:41 came from many Tuesdays of hard work at Schenley Oval. Both nearly took home large cash prizes against an international elite field.

Of course, it wasn’t just our elite runners who came out to race. Nor did rain showers dampen a loud and energetic Hounds cheering section, with shouts of “Go Hounds” heard all over Pittsburgh.

Other top Hounds results include Tolson Bell’s 1:17:54 in the half, while David Ledet’s fast finish led to a tie with Eric Shafer at 1:24:11 (with new hall-of-fame inductee Eric Shafer taking a dominant age-group victory). Finishing right on their heels was Natalie Tanner in 1:24:39, good for 15th, and Jennifer Gerland in 1:27:54 at spot 17. In the full, Kristie Johnson snagged a Boston Qualifier in an impressive 3:24:55, and Steve Garand demonstrated the art of pacing, taking the 3:35 racers through in 3:34:37.

Meanwhile, Colin Sawyer enjoyed a solid performance on his journey back to full fitness after a season of injuries, and Kristin Rhoa celebrated her back to back full marathons in Tokyo and Boston by pacing a friend in the half. And there were more Hounds out there going big or just having fun on their home course. Can’t wait to see what’s next for this crew!