Philadelphia Marathon 2014 (Marathon Number 13, State Number 5–Pennsylvania)

Last but not least in my historical recap of races past:  the Gore Tex Philadelphia Marathon!  This race was a special one because it was my husband’s first (and he says, last) marathon!   He never wanted to run a marathon until a few of his friends were talking about entering the New York City Marathon lottery.  None of us got in to NYC (that lottery is BRUTAL), but somehow we took that momentum and he signed up to run in Philly–his hometown.  (For the record, I’d still love to get into that NYC lottery with or without my husband!)

Website:  Gore Tex Philadelphia Marathon.

Time of Year:  Sunday at the end of November, the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Location: Philadelphia, PA.  Start and finish are conveniently located at the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Size: 30,000 runners across all events. Half-marathon offered on the same day as the marathon.

Weather:  QUITE chilly in the morning.  I rarely check a bag, but I did for this one because we had so many layers to store.  It sure was hard to part with those sweatpants 30 minutes before the race…  Once we got running, the weather was perfect.

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Harrisburg Marathon 2011 and 2013 (Marathons Number 6 and 10, State Number 5–Pennsylvania)

This is a nice little race.  So nice that I’ve done it twice and would probably do it again.   Here is my recap of the Harrisburg Marathon.

Website: Aspire Harrisburg Marathon.

Location: Harrisburg, PA.  Begins on City Island.

Size: About 700 full marathoners, joined by a small contingent of relayers.

Time of Year and Weather: November. Both times I ran, the weather was great for running, although a bit cold at the start.  Luckily there is no waiting around necessary before the start.  Towards the end of the race, running in the sun along the water, I wanted to shed all of my layers. But then once I finished, I wanted them all back.

En route to Harrisburg, PA.

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