Registration for the Pittsburgh Marathon reached capacity Tuesday, with only a few charity spots remaining.
"We are sold out, so that's good news," race director Patrice Matamoros said. "It takes one thing off the table, and that's trying to get registered runners. And that's a nice thing to have off the table."
The field for this year's marathon May 15 will be the largest ever, capped at 18,000.
Race organizers recommend that anyone hoping to secure one of the few remaining openings through the Run for a Reason charity program go to the website at www.pittsburghmarathon.com , select a charity and secure a spot by Friday.
Registration breaks down to 10,000 runners for the 13.1-mile half-marathon, which sold out late last month; 6,000 for the full 26.2-mile marathon; and 850 teams of up to five runners for the relay. Last year's cap was 16,000.
There's also a one-mile children's "marathon" scheduled for May 14 that is 60 percent full, Matamoros said.
And for the first time, there's a 5K race, capped at 2,000 and scheduled for May 14. Registration for that event is at 50 percent capacity.
Organizers expect 22,000 runners for all five events.
Last year's field was the race's largest in the history, up from the previous record of 10,500 in 2009, when the marathon first returned following a five-year hiatus.
This year's race will feature a new starting line at Liberty Avenue and Sixth Street downtown and a new finish line on the North Shore. The start times also were moved up, from 6:30 a.m. to 6 a.m. for walkers and from 7:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. for half- and full-marathon participants.
