Philadelphia Marathon Weekend

Philadelphia Marathon Weekend is a late-November running weekend in Philadelphia, with the full marathon on the third Sunday of the month and the shorter races on Saturday. The main race is the AACR Philadelphia Marathon, a certified 42.195 km marathon and one of the larger marathons in the United States, with more than 10,000 marathon finishers and more than 30,000 people entering the weekend’s seven events. The weekend also includes the Dietz & Watson Philadelphia Half Marathon, the Rothman Orthopaedic 8K, and several two-day challenges for runners who want to stack more than one race. The race grew out of earlier Philadelphia-area marathons, including suburban versions and races under different names, before the modern city-run Philadelphia Marathon was set up with just over 1,500 runners. The Rothman 8K began as a smaller add-on backed by local runners and Dr. Peter Sharkey of the Rothman Institute, and it now draws about 3,000 runners. The half marathon later joined the program, and the weekend split into its current Saturday-and-Sunday format. More than 60,000 spectators line the event, while over 3,000 volunteers from schools, colleges, universities, and local groups run cheer zones, replenishment stations, and course support.