It’s hard to express how much getting to this start line healthy after several years of struggle meant to me. And I may be extra biased because my best friend from college lives in Philly and I have good memories from past visits, but I absolutely loved this race and the course. Philadelphia Marathon feels every bit like a major—with a large field size and loads of spectators—without all the pressure.
The day before the race I spectated for the half marathon with Louie and my friends Emma and Milan. One of the athletes I coach was running (Go, Anna!) as well as a close friend and her sister. Cheering for them along with 15,000 strangers was a great way to get pumped for the marathon. Afterwards, Louie and I went to the Expo to grab our bibs and hear Bart Yasso moderate a panel with Lauren Fleshman, Jared Ward, and Aliphine Tuliamuk. Their messages about gratitude and running the mile you’re in set a nice tone.
Race morning everything went smoothly. We were just a short walk away from the start, but gave ourselves plenty of time, as we heard the security lines were crazy long the day before for the half. Maybe they worked out some kinks though, as we didn’t have to wait long. I will say, they did have more stringent security than any race I’ve been part of, including Boston.
Waiting at the start line for Philadelphia Marathon
At the start line, I felt calm, confident, and excited for the day to unfold. I got a swell of emotion just to be healthy and in a positive mindset. No matter how the race went, this already felt like a win. The weather was pretty ideal: chilly and 38 degrees to start, but warming up to 50 degrees with sunshine and mild winds. Louie and I did not plan to run together, so after the first few steps, I was on my own.
I hit my target pace right away and kept a good groove. Occasionally fear popped up in the back of my mind. Foot pain might flare up or maybe I’d hit a major wall any moment. Each time, I redirected myself to feel gratitude and the miles ticked by. I focused on taking in my surroundings—the landmarks, the fun spectator signs. The course is jam-packed with sites along the way. They have a storyboard map you can view ahead to get a sense of what to look out for.
Running under Ben Franklin Bridge, Philadelphia Marathon 2023
What really made the race for me: the Philly spectators know how to do it up. And they pretty much line the whole course. There are very few quiet spots. Someone was playing Don’t Stop Me Now at mile 2, which is like my favorite jam, and I took as a good sign. A cop gave me a high five. I’ve run a lot of races, and this was a first. Philly also is without a doubt the most times getting my name cheered at a race. A group of women chanted “SARA! SARA! SARA!” at mile 25. Talk about an energy boost when you need it the most.
A collection of my favorite Philly-related signs:
3. Get Philly Silly
2. All this to go to Manayunk?
1. Get that Jawn ❤️
There are several out-and-backs on the course. People tend to love or hate them. I generally loathe the hairpin turn kind (only one did this; the others turn around in a bigger loop before rejoining the out-and-back path), but what I do like about them is looking other racers in the eye. It was cool to cheer on the front runners. By chance, Louie and I got to see each on one of the out-and-backs too, which gave me a nice little boost.
The marathon features rolling hills throughout, with some more significant hills at the midpoint and again at about 20. The race boasts “flat and fast.” Compared to Atlanta, sure. But if you only prepare for flat, this will definitely feel hilly. My GPS clocked 663 feet of elevation gain (Boston, for comparison, was a gain of 833).
This wasn’t my strongest marathon performance, and I didn’t hit my time goal of 3:50, which is a BQ for my age group. I knew I was close as I hit mile 20, and I thought if I stuck near 9:00 pace, I’d get it. Math when marathoning is impossibly hard for me though, and I hadn’t accounted for my overage from weaving a bit. While it kind of stings to miss a BQ by a mere 1:13, I knew I wouldn’t get into Boston with a squeaker. Hopefully another time—I want redemption on that course.
That disappointment is very, very minimal though. This race felt like a marvel to me. To run a pain free and joyous marathon is a mega win for me at this point. I can’t sugar coat my last two marathons: they were suffer fests. Did not enjoy. Period. After those tough races and a very long struggle with foot pain this was such huge forward momentum.
Another win from this race is that finally, in my 18th marathon, I’ve dialed in on what works for me nutrition-wise. Fueling is one of the hardest parts of marathoning. If you only ever run one or two, you have precious few opportunities to figure out what works. Yes, there are formulas for ideal carbs and calories, but everyone is different in what volumes and formulas work best. This was the first race I went with a pre-fueling and Tailwind only during the race. I’m just surprised I didn’t try this before since Tailwind worked so well for me in the ultras I’ve run.
Louie and I finished just about 8 minutes apart, and I had enough time to make it through the recovery area and loop back to see him cross the finish line. In my haste, I hadn’t grabbed any of the finish line snacks, but there wasn’t much: all I saw was water, bananas, granola bars, chicken broth. I was glad to have my vanilla Tailwind recovery drink waiting for me in my drop bag.
We headed to the VIP tent, which was nice and warm and actually had an incredible buffet of sandwich fixings, vegetarian chili, potato salad, all kinds of baked goods, and piping hot coffee. I almost cut in front of Jared Ward in the food line, which he graciously was like “Please go ahead!” and asked me about my race.
Post-race! After finishing our race, we stuck around for a while to cheer.
Later, we walked around downtown and along the Schuylkill River. The stairs to get down to the trail were no problem at all. I was taking them normally. Bounding down them, even. I never had to grip a handrail. No wincing to bend over. Feeling so good post-marathon is kind of awesome when you hit your goal, but a little annoying when you’ve narrowly missed it. Clearly I had more to give.
That’s okay though: maybe this is i just as it should be. Maybe I needed to come so close to really stoke the fire for the next one.
The details:
Philadelphia Marathon
November 19, 2023
18th marathon; 16th state
Weather: 38 and chilly to start, warming to low 50s
Finish time: 3:51:13