This past weekend, Philadelphia Triathlon Club had 3 of our athletes run the Chicago Marathon. The Chicago Marathon is one of the World Major 7 Marathons (Boston, Chicago, New York, London, Berlin, Tokyo & Sydney) and known for fast times due to a fairly flat course profile with minimal turns.
Representing PTC at the 2025 edition of the Chicago Marathon was Andrew Yearsley, Andrea Esqueda and Becky Fox. They took time to give us a peak into what it is like to run the Chicago Marathon:
Why did you pick the Chicago Marathon and how did you get a bib?
Andrew: I am pursing the Abbott World Marathon Majors Seven Star Medal. I received my bib by funding raising for American Cancer Society. Now that I've completed Chicago Marathon I have 4/6 stars on my journey. I am registered to run Boston in 2026. I hope to run Tokyo in 2027 and earn the Star Star Medal.
Andrea: I wanted to be a FundRacer for Back On My Feet again, so it was just a matter of going through their (relatively large!) menu of races and deciding which one I wanted to go for. I chose Chicago because I have 1 star in Abbott World Marathon Majors, so I decided to focus on those this year and perhaps for the coming few years. I got a bib by applying through Back On My Feet - an organization I supported as a pro bono consultant for a year and half just before they were officially formed! - and was lucky to be selected to be part of their charity FundRacers for Chicago 2025!
Becky: I was invited for the third time to fundraise for the Livestrong Foundation. I’ve run for them twice before in honor of my late husband, Gregory, and Chicago was the ideal scenario for me this year. <A bit of background—we were never recipients of Livestrong services, the organization was just important to Gregory well before his diagnosis, and it brings me a lot of peace knowing I can carry that forward and we can still sort of work together in some way to make a difference. I know that Livestrong has faced adversity since Gregory‘s illness. It doesn’t erase the need that patients have for the services that Livestrong is able to provide. There is always more to do. There is still time to contribute to this year’s drive, too!
Any training plans you followed for the Chicago Marathon? If not, what was training like and what are examples of key workouts you did?
Andrew: No specific training plan. I ran the Sydney Marathon six weeks ago and treated that as my peak run for the Chicago training cycle. I did three 16-18 mile runs in between the races to preserve my conditioning and still allow my body time to recover.
Andrea: I started on a ~18 week plan in late May, that was quickly sidelined completely when I realized the intensity of an EMT program I had also just started. I kept having to google “16 week marathon training plan”, “15 week..”, “14 week…”. I finished the EMT course and still had 12 weeks to get in my marathon training, which was probably about the limit. As most people probably do, I focused on high quality long runs (21 was the longest I did), especially since the mileage ramped up pretty quickly.
Becky: I worked directly with a coach for this race. I followed a mix of self-paced plans and group coaching for my first two marathons and wanted a fresh, more personalized approach to advance my training safely. Training for this build included a variety of workout intensities, durations, and disciplines—intervals, long runs, progressions, cycling, strength training. And let’s not forget recovery!! Here I rotated in yoga, some PT, and massage.
How did race day go for you? (Ie highlights, PRs, anything unexpected?)
Andrew: The race was fantastic. It was my first time running Chicago. I loved the crowd support and exploring the city throughout the weekend.
Andrea: Race day went great (which I can say now that it’s over!). I actually felt kind of miserable through most of the race but it’s because I made a decision very early on to push my pace. VERY unlike me not to stick to my plan and I still don’t know exactly why I did it. But I just said, what the heck, let me try it and if it doesn’t work out, at least then I will know. I guess I subconsciously wanted to try a different strategy that was more aggressive than usual for me. So I definitely felt way more mentally and physically uncomfortable than any other distance race I had done, which made it a slightly less enjoyable experience while it was going on. The crowd energy was AMAZING but also at a couple points I felt totally overstimulated and had to just kind of look to the ground and be with my music a bit. With all that said, my unofficial watch 26.2 distance time was 4:44 (which is basically 15 min faster than where I thought I’d land, and ~8 min faster than my PR last year on similar course/conditions). I was very happy about that, especially because I am getting kind of old, so it’s great to be improving still!
Becky: I ran 4:07 PR (!!!) besting my marathon time by just under 12 minutes. The course is known for being fast and flat, and it did not disappoint!! One thing unexpected during the race was the many opportunities to slip and fall. It felt a bit like Mario Kart😆—sponges on the ground near aid stations, fabric over steel grates on bridges (I had been warned and it turned out to be manageable). A couple notable highlights were the cold towels and bags of ice at the finish line and being able to see my cheer squad multiple times throughout the race. It’s going to be tough to compete with this race experience moving forward
Any Thank You's or Shout Outs?
Andrea: Shout out to my husband David who always quietly makes a plate of food show up after my long runs when my appetite is still finicky and I don’t feel like making food for anyone (including me).
Becky: Always at risk for leaving someone out…but here we go:
- The Livestrong team for the opportunity to run three marathons, improve the lives of patients currently battling cancer, support an organization whose motto became our mantra when we needed it most—Livestrong Foxstrong
- Team Wilpers (especially Justin, Matt, and John), Novacare Rehabilitation, Penn Medicine Running and Endurance Sports Program/Good Shepherd Rehabilitation, Penn Sports Medicine, Peloton, Kristin McGee Movement for getting me to the start line physically and mentally primed
- My fellow runners and squads—the PTC Musselmamas (Joy and Ida) + Doug, Amy & Jimmy
- Friends, family, work colleagues—these people always get shoved into this 4-word category—and they are the ones that manage and most often live the day-to-day grind right with me
- Race Day Cheer Squads - Elaina, Nolan and their kids (extra HUUUGE kudos for bringing a Garmin charger—bc yep I forgot it)
- Gregory and our son—no words can express
