West Deer Firefighter Runs Marathon In Full Gear

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There were 23,457 runners in T-shirts and shorts participating in Sunday's Pittsburgh Marathon.

Running with them was a West Deer firefighter wearing full fire gear.

"I just try to challenge myself further to raise the bar every time," Ron Brown explains. "I felt like quitting all the time. You're very very hot. And you just want to quit. But I kept pressing on. I kept going."

Running in fire fighting gear for the second straight year, he says he made one concession this time.

"I wore tennis shoes instead of the boots," he said.

He says the crowd spurred him on.

"The support was so great from Pittsburgh," he said. "The police, the EMS, the fire department, the crowd, the Marathon officials. It was so awesome."

Along the way, he raised several hundred dollars for the Animal Rescue League.

Speaking of marathon events, 10 years ago, he set a Guinness world record for continuous bowling,

"Everything I do is because of my dad," he says. "I bowled 58 hours and 40 minutes for Parkinson's disease. And we raised over $6,000."

As for that "little run" on Sunday, he says, "I was the very last person to cross the line."

But he felt like a winner all the way.

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