This year’s Pittsburgh Marathon is one for the record books. More than 52,000 runners crossed the finish line, with more than 300,000 spectators cheering them on.

“We’re welcoming people from around the world,” P3R CEO Troy Schooley said. “This event has turned into an international event for our city. We’re going to show it off today. The runners will run through 14 neighborhoods. We have 33 different countries represented today and all 50 states.”

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Mohammed El Youssfi claimed the men’s division of the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, crossing the finish line and immediately wrapping himself in the Moroccan flag.

“This is my first time in Pittsburgh, but the special moment for me today is the people here cheering me on,” El Youssfi said. “That helped me to win the race.”

Emotions ran high for Pittsburgh’s very own Will Loevner. The Winchester Thurston graduate has run the Pittsburgh Marathon multiple times, finishing as the runner-up in 2024 and fifth in 2025. But in 2026, he took home top honors, crossing the finish line first at 2:14.

“I’ve now won the Philadelphia marathon, the Cleveland marathon twice,” Loevner said. “To win Pittsburgh, I feel like it was the trifecta and the most special one for me. I mean, being in the hometown, nothing even compares.”

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Buze Diriba Kejela is 2026’s women’s Pittsburgh Half Marathon champion, setting a course record for women and crossing the finish line at 1:08:39.

“I’m happy to set the course record. I like it,” she said.

Before the runners crossed the start line, the handcyclists got a head start. Marshall Tempest of Monroeville came out on top in the Pittsburgh Marathon Handcycle Division, finishing at 1:40:16.

“I’ve done 13 Pittsburgh marathons, and this is my 5th time winning it, in a row,” he said. “It feels good. It was a rough one, but I was determined to get that 5th one.”

“I love running,” said Will Henry Lawrence, who ran the half-marathon. “I love being able to have breath in my lungs and let my feet hit the pavement. I had a stroke six years ago, and so I give all glory to God for being able to get out and exercise.”

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Tickets for the 2027 Pittsburgh Marathon are on sale for 48 hours, starting at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2026. You can register at thepittsburghmarathon.com

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In a new and rapidly expanding scam, swindlers are using images generated by artificial intelligence to tap the wallets of desperate and heartbroken owners of lost pets.

In a press conference on Friday, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, warned state residents about a fraud that is becoming “more and more rampant.”

Scammers manipulate photos of lost pets posted by owners on social media to make it appear the animal has been hurt, according to media reports from around the nation. 

In Florida and Texas, for example, scammers have told owners of missing dogs that their pets were hit by cars, with an accompanying image of a dog that looks like theirs on a veterinarian’s operating table, WESH 2, a Hearst TV station affiliate in Florida, reported recently. The scammer then demands payment for the surgery.

An urgent demand for money is a red flag, Blumenthal said, along with the claim that a lost pet has been hurt and images of an injured pet. The Federal Trade Commission, as the nation’s consumer protection agency, should issue a formal warning about the scam, the senator said.

Numerous reports of lost pet scams have surfaced recently, Popular Science reported in March, describing a few common scenarios, including the one in which the owner is sent an image of what appears to be their injured pet at a veterinary hospital and another, in which the owner is sent images of what appears to be their pet at a shelter, about to be euthanized. But, the article states, these images are false.

Other types of lost pet scams involve an offer of fake pet-finding services, according to the Better Business Bureau.

“You may receive a message from someone on social media about drone technology and search parties that can help you find your pet,” the nonprofit consumer advocacy organization reported. “The person will ask you for payment up front and will likely ask you to send it through a peer-to-peer payment app. Before paying for services, always search for the business on BBB.org or check BBB Scam Tracker.”

All types of cyber-scams have been proliferating in the nation, according to the FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report. Since the agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center was launched about 25 years ago, complaints have surged, the FBI reported, with a current average of about 3,000 complaints each day.

In 2025, losses reported to the center continued to climb, surpassing $20 billion, the FBI reported. Investment-related fraud once again made up the largest part of the losses, followed by business email compromises and tech support scams, the agency reported.

PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) — It’s graduation season, and 37 medical school grads received their degrees Saturday at USM.

The students graduated from the MaineHealth Maine Track program, which is a part of Tufts Univeristy in Boston.

Program leaders say students specifically trained in community-based medical practices across Maine.

Eleven of the graduates will begin their residencies at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland.