Philadelphia Marathon

Philadelphia Marathon

Philadelphia Marathon

( 65 reviews )
98% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Philadelphia,
    Pennsylvania,
    United States
  • November
  • 5 miles/8K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Kanyi

Royersford , Pennsylvania, United States
2 5
2015
"Well Organized Race, Few Hills, Overall Great Experience."
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Kanyi 's thoughts:

⁃ The Expo. The expo is quite organized. It's at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, at 11th and Arch street, which is close to City Hall and the Reading Terminal market. It's held on the Friday and Saturday before the races. (8K, 1/2 and full marathon) Since the 8K is on Saturday, you have to pick up the 8K bibs on Friday as there is no race day pickup. All 1/2 and full marathon bibs and goodie bags have to be picked up on Saturday as there is no Sunday race day pickup. Street parking can be hard to find but I believe garage parking is available in nearby garages. The El Subway (Market Frankford blue line) runs 2-3 blocks away on Market street. (get off at 11th and Market either way) If you are using the Orange (Broad Street) Line, there is a free interchange at City Hall) and the Convention Center is easily accessible via public transportation via local SEPTA buses or the subway.
If you have been to the Convention Center before, especially for the Auto Show or Flower show, the marathon expo does not feel as overwhelming and everything is on one floor and within easy reach. You can actually be in and out of there in 10-15 minutes, depending on crowds and your interest in checking out the merchandise on offer. There are friendly staff members ready to direct you to the spot you want to go to.

The goodie bag. Picking up the marathon bib and bag is really easy. Once you check your bib number, pick up the bib and pins and pick up the clear marathon bag that already has your t-shirt in there. You can change your corral color while there but the staff just used color sharpies to do it. Nothing fancy. The Tshirt size in the bag was right. The bag has a few fliers/pamphlets. At least for the full marathon, there was a small tube of Tom's toothpaste, Advil, A can of beet juice, a flier welcoming you to free engraving of your finisher medal at Dick's Sporting Goods (the one at King of Prussia, PA) plus $10 off $50 purchase. The engraving was between 2 pm and 6 pm the Sunday afternoon of the marathon and the following Monday, day after the marathon from 5.30 pm to 9 pm. I went on Monday evening and it took 1 hour of waiting. Full marathon finishers could have at most 7 characters plus the finish time engraved. Half marathoners I think had only their initials and times engraved. That was a nice feature which I liked, a personalized medal! There were also invitations to various races via fliers in the goodie bag, for example the Philadelphia Love Run half marathon, the Brooklyn (I think) half, the Philadelphia hot chocolate half and the Kentucky derby half and full marathons. There was a speaking podium where various speakers were listed to speak at certain times both on Friday and Saturday. There were quite a few vendors there. Goretex was the main 'vendor' with a big booth that had their Goretex shoes, as it is the marathon main sponsor. The two brands I saw were Brooks and Asics. You could test run the shoes there but the vendor assistants wrote a card with your preferred shoe name and size. They don't sell the shoes there as stocking the shoes there would be cumbersome. They have a small puddle of water where you can test the shoes for their waterproof worthiness and I did. They also have a 'photo booth' where you could take a picture with the Franklin Parkway and Goretex logo in the background. Other vendors included Sellers of shoes (I saw mostly Nike and Brooks) running gear (shorts, shirts, gloves, hats, thermal winter hats, socks, nighttime reflective tape etc) and GU brand gels. Surprisingly, the official 'Boom' gels that were on offer at the actual marathon course were not on sale. Also, a company called Roosports had an attractive pouch which clamps, via magnets, to your running shorts and can firmly hold a cellphone,keys, gels, cash and cards and other few small items. I bought one on impulse after I had sworn to go in and out of the expo without purchasing anything. It looks cumbersome if you are going to be retrieving stuff from it during the run as it hangs on the band of your running shorts. Another worthy vendor was Janji, which sold running shorts, shirts and pants whose sale supports various charities worldwide, for example, Peru, Ethiopia, Kenya and Haiti. I purchased a pair of shorts. They didn't have my size but the founder, a nice guy called David, took my information and promised to ship it for the price he was selling the items at the expo with free shipping. Couldn't have asked for a better deal.

Getting to the marathon on Sunday morning

⁃ Public transportation. I am a regular user of public transportation and I was worried about how to get there, as roads to the Philadelphia Museum of Art had been closed for the marathon. The marathon website is scant on details and the SEPTA local transport website just lists the routes affected, not the actual detours. So, I called the SEPTA customer service number +1 (215) 580-7800 and the friendly representative gave me the actual detours. Essentially, the best bus to take would be the SEPTA bus 33, which runs through 15th street and JFK Blvd, next to City Hall which is a subway stop for both the Orange Broad Street Line and the Blue Market Frankford Line. The 33 bus is the one for 23rd and Venango and is clearly labeled at the front and side. The bus passes by 15th and JFK at 4.15 am, 4.49 am and 5.29 am. I boarded the 5.29 bus. I was relieved to meet a few marathoners on the bus and made new friends. I was there early but I was too afraid of getting to the race too late. Request the bus driver to drop you at 20th and vine, as the bus goes on 20th street onwards during the detour. You can also take the 38 bus as per the SEPTA representative but call to get the exact detour. This is an excellent stop as the marathon checkin point is close to the Museum steps at N 25th street and Pennsylvania Avenue, where the security checkpoint was. It's 0.7 miles or so (maybe less) and takes 10 to 14 minutes to walk to the checkpoint. Way better than walking from 15th and JFK or 30th street station.
⁃ By car. I actually saw cars drive on Pennsylvania Avenue and if you have someone dropping you, you can ask them to drop you right at the check point if you come early enough. A cab may drop you there if you arrive before 6 am. There is absolutely no parking anywhere nearby and I would recommend taking a cab there or walking instead of looking for parking. Too risky especially on such an important day.

Checkpoint, dressing, clearbag and corral

⁃ By 5.40 ish when I got there, the security points were already opened and the security staff were only allowing the clear bags and checking them. There were a few portable toilets at the beginning of the checkpoint but obviously, there were long lines that got longer as the race start time got closer. There was a row of potty Johns on the right of the green corral placement but these had longer lines as the start time got closer. The trick is to get there early and use the portable toilets before the lines start, before 6 am. Please bring/carry your own tissue paper. There was tissue paper but if it runs out in the Potta John, you might be in a bind!This shall sound funny, awkward or even inappropriate but, I heard a runner fret that they had wiped off their anti-chafe balm when they used the bathroom! So, wipe with care! Once checked, they tagged the clear bag with a yellow paper to show that the bag had been checked. Since I came early, it was a quick checkin. The lines built up as the race start got closer.
⁃ Dress up warmly for the time before the marathon. It was about 50 degrees but it was chillier than usual for some as a slight wind was blowing. Use old clothing, an old hoodie/sweatshirt and pants that you can discard on the left (I think) while running. They donate discarded clothing to charity. On the course, I saw expensive brand name 'new' or slightly used clothing discarded and I felt bad for the people who had discarded the newish clothes. I think the generally agreed upon 'Dress up for the race and add 10-20 degrees' applies here. Even if it felt like it was in the 30s, most people were dressed like they were running in 40 or 50 degree weather. Have a regular running shirt and shorts, unless the temperatures dip too low. The temperatures in 2015 never went above 48-50, which made for perfect running weather!
⁃ There were UPS trucks that were at the green corral placement area which were used to hold the clear bags for the runners. What I did is bring the clear bag and at about 6.30 am, removed my hoodie and sweatpants and put them in the clearbag. The bib they gave you at the expo has a tag that you tear out that has your bib number. This tag is what you attach to your clearbag and give it to the UPS attendants. They store them by last name and are very easy to retrieve after the race.
⁃ Corrals. During registration, the runner chooses a color coded corral based on their estimated finish time. (You can change your corral at the expo where the staff just marks your bib with the corresponding color of the corral you wish to change to.) This enables there to be spacing as it is a huge event with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 runners. If you are trying to chase a time or don't want to be held behind by slower runners, you can be at the very front of your coral. As you run the race, you'll realize that being at the front of the coral might not really matter as I'll explain in a moment...

The start upto the 13.1...

The race started 3 minutes late due to a traffic accident. No big deal. Due to the large amount of runners, depending on what coral you are placed, you might not start racing for several minutes as they space up the runners. They don't enforce the no earphones/headphones rule, which I liked. I run with music. Some hate running with music. Your call.

The start of the race from the Benjamin Franklin Parkway leads you towards the Ben Franklin bridge as you pass the Constitution center and the Liberty Bell. If you are not elite, you shall be in a swarm of humanity as the half marathoners and the full marathoners are all running at the same time. I was worried about bumping into people but if you were honest about your corral placement, the runners shall mostly be running at your pace. In fact, for the first 3 miles, I ran below my pace, which is what running experts advise you to do. If you are feeling constrained, fear not as the slightly long stretch on Colombus Blvd on Penn's Landing allows you to catch up on lost time if that is your goal. The Delaware River is to your left.
⁃ once you are past Colombus Blvd, you start gliding towards South Philadelphia via Washington street. The first water station is here and there is a bit of bumping here. The Gatorade cups come first, followed by water and then there is the last group of volunteers who hand over Gatorade cups for those who missed the Gatorade. Very well thought out. The Gatorade here tastes like real Gatorade, unlike the watered down version I have had the displeasure of swigging at another (cough Wilmington, Delaware, cough) marathon The streets there are a bit narrow but the supporters are loud and off the chain. Some hand out small Gatorade bottles and cleenex tissues. I took a cleenex tissue as I had a slight cold and running nose. The race then veers into the Downey's pub section on South Street as you ready yourself to get to Chestnut street. Chestnut street is where you can really catch up if the huge running crowd held you back as the stretch goes upto University city on 31st and Chestnut. The cheering crowds are huge in Chestnut street. Don't run too fast here despite the temptation to. Don't be discouraged by the sea of runners in front of you. There is an even larger crowd behind you.
⁃ Once you go to Chestnut past the Post Office and close to 30th street station, you make a left and go towards the Philadelphia Zoo. The route has a slight gradient but not too crazy. Once you get to the Zoo, you shall then begin the first serious hill of the marathon. For those who have run the Wilmington DE marathon, it is similar to the hill one encounters on miles 16-18. You know that terrible hill. The Philadelphia one is not as steep but it is deceptive. It's slightly longer. Save your energy here. Don't run too fast. I practiced running hills and this helped me on that hill.
⁃ Downhill. Once you have gone up the hill after the Philadelphia zoo, you shall run on some flat ground before running towards the Schuylkill River. There is a long downhill run which goes beneath the I-76. I wish I had trained to run long downhills. I didn't really know how to run this and kept going with the flow. So, if you are reading this before the marathon run, please practice on how to run downhill, not only uphill. Once you are done with the downhill, you shall run towards the river where the course makes a u turn and turns sharply towards the Museum of Art. Here, you shall come face to face with people who are in front of you. If you are running the full marathon, worry not as many of those runners are running the half. At least, convince yourself of that. The Schuylkill River run with the Boat Row houses on your left is beautiful and the road is wide. For fans of rowing, this is where the famous regattas are held. More regattas and boat races are held at the Boathouse Row than any other city in the Nation. You can adjust your pace here as well. The end for the half marathon is coming up as you come close to the Museum of Art and if you are running the full marathon, you might be tempted to run with the half marathoners who are giving their last kick for the finish. Don't fret, you have another 13 miles to go. When you approach the 13.1 mark, the half marathoners keep to the right and the full marathoners keep to the left and the signs are clear. I had mentally prepared myself for that and it did not bother me that some people were finishing and I was not halfway done. There is a huge cheering crowd here.

The 13.1 to the 22 mile

Once you keep left as a full marathoner (or keep right and finish the half marathon, congratulations!) the running crowd thins out and the guys close to you are the ones you shall be racing for the rest of the journey. You are now running towards Manayunk, where marathon dreams (go to) die. From Mile 13, you shall now be running on the famous Boathouse Row, on East River Drive (and later on, Kelly Drive), but the Houses now shall be close to you to your left. This is a flat stretch and not too daunting. After running past Boathouse Row, you shall run towards a steel bridge around mile 17 and run towards the Schuylkill and then make a u turn towards the bridge. Here, you shall meet runners who are slightly faster than you as you run towards the river and runners slightly slower than you as you run away from the river towards the bridge. Once past the bridge, you are now running the straight stretch towards Manayunk on Main Street. The crowds here are loud, just like the South Philly crowd and you shall probably shall be struggling at this point and you need the encouragement. As you run towards Manayunk, depending on how fast you are, you shall see the elites running towards the Museum of Art steps for the finish line. Don't be discouraged. Keep running. Mile 18-22 is where you run into Manayunk and back. Stay focused as you shall be meeting faster runners running back to the Museum steps towards the finish line. The Manayunk run back and forth has a slight gradient, slightly downhill as you go towards Manayunk and slightly uphill as you go away from Manayunk towards the Philadelphia Museum of Art finish . However, the gradient is not too bad. This is the stretch where people (me included) shall start getting affected by hamstrings, shin splints and other injuries that slow one down. (I started cramping at mile 17 at the bridge despite doing research everyday and taking salt pills, gu gels, pickle juice, mustard and beet juice! On my long runs, I was actually running without cramping. I'll keep on trying and hoping for a miracle!) Say a silent prayer for an injury free rest of the journey and keep on running. At Manayunk, they actually have people handing you shots of beer in plastic cups! My stomach is too sensitive for anything during runs but how I wish I could have taken a shot of Budweiser or whatever beer they were offering! Once you run past Manayunk (to and fro), you shall begin slightly ascending towards the finish line.

Mile 22 to Mile 26.2

At this point, unless you are an elite runner and extremely talented, you shall be struggling to keep one foot past the other. Your Boston Qualifier hopes torn to shreds, you are wondering whether you are even going to finish, let alone PR! You start questioning whether you should just have done the half or even told anyone you are running the marathon! The mile markers remind you of how few miles you have left but how far those miles are, depending on how much you have left in the tank. The carb loading you did at night seems not to work, the GU gels and salt sticks are failing you. Fear not, the finish line is near. The thin crowd does a good job cheering and cheeky notice boards remind you that the Philadelphia Eagles game is at 1 pm (Go Eagles, FlyEaglesFly), or LeBron James would have cramped by now (shall I make it for the beginning of the game? Maybe! I did cramp, just like LeBron but luckily, I kept on moving as the cramp was not fatal) These are the worst and slowest miles! 4 miles of sheer agony! At this point, many shall fall by the wayside, holding their hamstrings and calves and quads that have let them down. If you are injured like I was, people who don't cramp shall begin to pass you and there is nothing you can do about it. At this point, I was hobbling like Long John Silver but at least, I was moving. The crowds shall be sympathetic and shall cheer you on.
Once you are past the hill, you shall start descending to the finish line. The crowds shall get louder and the Philadelphia mayor (Mayor Nutter in 2015) shall be standing at the finish line to give you a high five! The men's marathon winner was also there, giving people high fives, looking fresh and raring to run another 26.2 miles...

Treats After The Marathon...

Once past the finish line, there is a photographer who takes a post run picture of you nag him (or her) hard enough. If you decide to have him take a photo, look for it in the lost and found section of the photographers' website. Volunteers give you a silver/aluminum official marathon cover/blanket to shield you from the elements. Ask one of them to take a picture of you if you have been running with your phone and you do not have anyone close to the finish line, just like I did. As you keep walking from the finish line, you are offered bottled water and/or Gatorade for rehydration. The following treats (very impressive array, can't complain at all) are on offer in a Macy's paper tote bag;
⁃ Lundberg Rice chips (organic, wheat free and gluten free) in different flavors.
⁃ V8 juice, different flavors. Not the thick, tomato paste kind, the watery kind.
⁃ Philadelphia pretzels.
⁃ Ardmore apple juice
⁃ Peanut butter from Peanut Butter & co, NY. Best tasting peanut butter I have ever tasted. The Food channel is/was right!
⁃ Hot chicken broth soup. (Can't remember the brand but it was a reputable brand) This was very clever and thoughtful of them. There might be more treats that I may have omitted/forgotten.
Once you load up your treats in the tote bag, it's time to collect your marathon clear bag from the UPS trucks. They place the bags under your last name and bib number so the bags are easy to retrieve. They misplaced mine for a minute but that's because of my last minute bag placement. Everyone else around me got their bag promptly.
⁃ There are massage stations past the UPS trucks but my feet, which had cramped and begged me to stop running from mile 21, seemed to have stopped their pain and I could walk without limping two minutes after finishing! I skipped the massage stations.

The Race Photos

The race photos were processed by Island Photography from New York. This is a major, big city race and therefore the race photos cannot be free. The race photos were ready after about 7-10 days which was very impressive. The photos are pricey and budget wise are not for the faint hearted! From $129.99-$179.99 for a commemorative plaque plus digital photos to $69 for a thumb drive with all the digital photos, $80 for all digital photos, to $29.99 for one digital photo! The chicken or egg argument with the prices of the photos shall never end. Most runners feel that the pictures are just too pricey and the prices cannot be justified, especially for those running numerous races during the year which involve travel and accommodation. Many now feel that they just need one 'social media' digital photo to post to their favorite or numerous social media account/s and don't need a barrage of photos. The photographers have a different view. They cite the high costs of preparation for the race, equipment and costs of sorting photographs speedily after the race to present them as soon as possible. They also claim that different photographers have tried to sell the photographs at lower prices but people still didn't buy them anyway. So, they charge high prices for those who shall pay top dollar for their photos. There are those who shall have an attachment to a race, a milestone and shall pay top dollar for photos. I bit the bullet and got the $29.95 digital photo. For those who want the cheapest option, an actual physical photo is $19.95, plus $4.50 for shipping, total $24.45, about $25 and then you can scan it and digitize it.

*I know this is a lot of info but I wrote this in the hope that all the questions I was asking in my mind before the marathon have been answered here. See you in the next marathon and good luck! I have also lived in Philadelphia and the suburbs and I have a bit of knowledge of the city, hence my lengthy note.

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