If you are looking for a new fall marathon to try, the Philadelphia Marathon is a great choice. I was really happy with my experience and will hopefully do it again!

We flew to Philadelphia on Friday night, and with a little research ahead of time, it was easy to take public transportation from the airport to Center City. Hotel options were a little more expensive than I hoped, but our hotel was within walking distance of a train station, the expo, and the start/finish area. On Saturday, we walked to the expo, which was located in the convention center near Reading Terminal. The expo was pretty standard but there wasn't as wide of a selection of Philadelphia Marathon gear as I expected. There are some great lunch options in the area (we really enjoyed Jake's Sandwich Board). We were also able to walk to Independence National Park, but didn't go on any tours (we should have reserved tickets in advance). We had dinner at a great Italian restaurant known for spontaneous opera performances from the staff (Victor Cafe).

Now, on to race day! I was worried about the weather since the race takes place mid-November, but it was perfect (sunny and 40s at the start, and warmed up to 50s). For gear check, they immediately loaded your bag into one of several UPS trucks which were clearly labeled and easy to find after the race. There were starting corrals based on time, but I noticed they weren't closely monitored and I had to do some swerving in the first few miles. There was a lot of crowd support during the first half of the course, which went through downtown towards the Delaware River, around Independence Hall and back through downtown towards University City and around the Philadelphia Zoo area. The half-marathon and full-marathon runners start together, so it was definitely obvious when the half-marathoners split off towards the finish. The second half of the marathon course was an out-and-back along the Schuylkill River. The scenery was beautiful but crowd support was minimal for a few miles and I remember wishing I had music. Overall, the course is hillier than Chicago but it wasn't as tough as I anticipated. The Clif Bar Pace Team leaders were super helpful and provided advice about upcoming turns and hills throughout the race.

Finally, if I had to choose, I would say the best part was definitely the post-race soft pretzels!