Philadelphia Marathon Race Report 2023
26.2 miles of pure joy (and two beers) in Philadelphia!
Sunday, 11/19/2023
Goals: 4:45, a 10:XX minute pace, or at least under 5 hours
Official finish time: 4:45:19!
Clarisse, Jenn, Jenn's mom Patty, Emma, and I recently ran the Philly Marathon! It was Patty's 24th (!!!) marathon, Clarisse and Jenn's first, and Emma and I's second (and Emma's second time running Philly)!
I ran much more efficiently than I did during my last marathon; I "only" logged 26.34 miles compared to nearly 27 miles in Snohomish. I tried to take corners mindfully and weave around other runners less– it adds up over 26 miles! Some large marathons have an official course line marking the most efficient path, but Philly didn’t.
My goals were (A) finish 4:45 or faster, (B) maintain at least a 10:XX minute pace, and (C) at least finish under 5 hours.
I knew my C goal was in reach; I was close to a sub-5 pace in Snohomish but wanted to save my legs for Philly. However, my other goals were intimidating!
During training, a 10 minute pace could feel quite fast on tired legs… I had no idea how I would be able to hold that speed for 26 miles. My friend Mia, an accomplished marathoner, assured me that the taper would change everything. Marathon pace would feel easy come race day, especially with the crowd support. Luckily, she was right!
Course
Digital splits are provided at the 5K, 10K, 15K, 13.1 mile, 30K, 40K marks along the course. There are some rolling hills, with the steepest around Mile 7-8.
I looooved the course through the main city center. It was fun to run through the beautiful, historic areas and the crowd support was amazing.
The out and back around Kelly Drive got monotonous but it was nice to be able to see friends. The course finishes on an uphill, but the crowd support at the end is strong.
Atmosphere
The crowd support and energy was absolutely unreal (especially for so early in the morning).
It felt like the streets were lined with spectators for all 26 miles straight. Philly had so much energy. I have never felt so loved, or been offered more free beer, from total strangers.
The Liberty Bell medals were super cool, which made up for how ugly the race shirts were (sorry). The zipper isn't comfortable, and I imagine the people who wore these on race day had some bad chafing.
Performance
We stayed at Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square from Saturday to Sunday. The hotel was nice and conveniently located. We were able to store our bags before check-in and upon checking out. We also managed to check in early, at 11AM by calling ahead at 7AM on Saturday.
There was a shuttle to and from the race. We left the hotel around 5:15AM and were through security by 5:30.
If you have a drop bag (you can only bring the clear bag provided at the expo) or want to use the bathroom, take care of that early. The lines got really long close to the race start. We hung out in a warming tent until it was time to head to our corrals.
There were not a lot of bathrooms at all (at the start or for the first few miles) for such a big race. Lines were super long, so a lot of people were peeing in bushes/trees.
Besides the bathroom fiasco, the logistics were smooth for such a popular race. I wore some throwaway layers to stay warm in the corral until the start. The discarded clothing gets donated!
I didn't have a good idea of my fitness going into this race. In the future, I'd race a shorter distance, like a half, during marathon training and use that result to plan my marathon splits.
For this race, I estimated a reasonable goal time using an old half time and how I felt during my "practice marathon". Lining up in the corral, I was nervous to go out too hard too early and burn out. Still, I decided to be brave and start with the 4:40 group. I could always slow down if I couldn't hold the pace.
In retrospect, I'm really glad I did this. Online, I see a lot of marathon advice touting negative splits (running the later miles faster than the earlier miles), but after two marathons, I find it really, really hard to do this. Even during my 5:15 "easy pace" marathon, my legs locked up around Mile 20-21 (which happened again during Philly, but since this was my goal race, I pushed through).
In my experience, holding onto even splits for as long as possible seems to work best. This required starting at an intimidating pace (for me) but it's important to balance that with not going out too fast and having to considerably slow down.
Next training cycle, I'd aim to do more continuous long runs to better prepare my legs for the distance. This cycle, I ran two 20+ mile training runs (including a 27 mile practice marathon). Next time, I'd add 1-2 more 20 milers and try to increase the amount of continuous 16-19 mile medium-long runs I do as well.
Balancing mountaineering, climbing, and running was difficult– I didn't have a lot of time or energy to do as many medium long runs as I should have. And when I would do these runs, I'd sometimes break them up during the day around other activities.
For the first 20 miles, I felt great. Around Mile 20-21, I slipped back from my 4:40 pace group during some of the rolling hills. From there, I tried to catch up but couldn't do it and ultimately just focused on finishing the race as strongly as possible.
I drank water/Nuun at every fluid station but my nutrition plan went a bit off the rails this race. I wanted to eat a gel every three miles but gave up on this towards the end. My stomach was getting sick of all the gels/BLOKS. I did fuel with two beers, courtesy of generous bystanders around Mile 21 and 24...
The last few miles, it felt like I was moving in slow motion. After finishing, I was impressed to see that those molasses-miles were only a 11-12 minute pace though! Tapering really works. When my legs felt that tired during training rains, I'd be at a 13-14+ minute pace.
The uphill finish was difficult, but I kept pushing knowing it'd all be over soon and I worked too hard to stop now. Right before the finish, I heard Emily calling my name from the crowd! She was the final morale boost I needed to sprint towards the finish line.
Besides water stations, I didn't walk at all!
I am super proud of myself for holding twenty (20!) 10 minute miles. I didn't know I could do that! During training, with heavy legs, a ten minute pace feels fast! It was hard to imagine myself running that speed for most of a marathon.
It's wild how mental running can really be. It wasn't long after the race before I was scheming how fast I thought I could run the next one...
I grabbed a post-run banana and took some celebratory photos with friends. On the way home, Clarisse's family and I stopped for delicious Thai food.
I'm proud of myself and my friends! Thank you to the City of Philadelphia and everyone who came out to support. I felt very loved.
Rest in Peace to Oscar Raymond Mayer, who suffered cardiac arrest after completing Mile 25. There is a memorial fund in his honor to benefit current and future students who share his passion for the Natural Lands at Ithaca college. Donate here.