This 10-mile point-to-point race in the French capital starts in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. The first four miles of the course hug the banks of the Seine River before runners head through Paris’s wooded suburbs before a finish at the magnificent Palace of Versailles. Unless you’re an elite athlete, the start is something of a free for all: a no-seeding policy means you can start where you like.

In 1977 Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri established The Great Race as a community “fun run.” Eleven years later, Mayor Caliguiri died of amyloidosis, a rare protein disorder in which one or more organ systems in the body accumulate deposits of abnormal proteins known as amyloid.

Each year The Great Race donates $1 from every Great Race and Junior Great Race registration to the Richard S. Caliguiri Amyloidosis Fund, a fund held by the Pittsburgh Foundation that is dedicated to supporting medical research.

Each year on the last Sunday of September, the starting gun sounds for a world-class road race that has become a true Pittsburgh tradition for the past 36 years. The Great Race – established as a 10K race by the late Mayor Richard S. Caliguiri – has attracted more than a quarter million participants since 1977. Over the years, this popular fall fitness classic has grown to include a 5K run/walk, running clinic, two-day expo and children’s race…with more than 16,000 individuals taking part in these various activities annually.