Lisette Oropesa has found new definition for running a marathon.

“It's a lot like singing an opera,” says the soprano, who is starring in Pittsburgh Opera's current production. “You are out there performing for hours.”

Showing she has both roles mastered, Oropesa (lisetteoropesa.com) ran the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 3, the morning after opening in “Daughter of the Regiment,” Downtown.

She knows there sometimes is a two-day lag in recovery from an athletic effort, but says she is ready for the May 5 performance at the Benedum Center.

“I feel fine,” the Louisiana native says. “I ran the race to enjoy it. I didn't kill myself. I stopped to get drinks of water and take pictures. I'm ready to sing.”

Oropesa, 31, finished the race in 4:45:41, not her best time, which is 4:15 in a fairly flat Toronto race.

“But it's not my worst, either,” she says.

This was her sixth marathon, all of which she has run since 2012. Her dedication to distance running grew from a half-marathon she did in 2011 in Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

She says she started running after being told 10 years ago in a young artists program that she needed to lose weight. She weighed 210 pounds then.

She started working out a bit, but six years ago she and her husband, Steven, decided to try running.

“It was hot, it was a rainy day, I hated it,” she says.

But she became one of those converts to running and, after the Disney World race, became hooked on longer ones.

She says when she heard the Pittsburgh Marathon was being held while she was here for the Gaetano Donizetti opera, she decided to add it to her visit.

“It was just the best weekend ever,” she says. “Pittsburgh is just the most gorgeous city. Every turn into a different neighborhood was great. Everybody was out celebrating.”

She says she has been in Pittsburgh three times before and was immediately taken by its attitude.

“I looked at it the first time and said, ‘This is a town for athletes,' ” she says. “I saw all of those hills and bridges. San Francisco has nothing on Pittsburgh.”

Bob Karlovits is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at or 412-320-7852 or bkarlovits@tribweb.com.

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