Philadelphia’s own Katie Florio has been in the spotlight since her win at Sunday’s Philadelphia Marathon. The 31-year-old quickly became an Internet sensation after she revealed she gave birth to her first child one year ago. Florio has since been the star of countless news articles, including a story by People, and appeared on the TODAY show on Tuesday alongside her one-year-old son Nico and husband Paul.
It isn’t easy for a new mother to return to running–let alone racing at an elite level–so quickly after having a baby. Florio not only returned to racing–she also got faster. Sunday’s race marked her fastest-ever marathon–she clocked a personal-best time of 2:32:42 to edge out the women’s field by more than 40 seconds and claim the USD $10,000 winning prize. At September’s Philadelphia Distance Run half-marathon, she also beat her previous best time, running 1:18:03.
“We’ve enjoyed our 48 hours of fame,” Florio wrote on Instagram. “Thank you for all the calls, texts and messages. This truly is the city of brotherly love.”
On the TODAY show, Florio wore her newly-earned gold medal alongside her Liberty Track Club jacket, representing her elite running team. “I ran up until I was 35 weeks pregnant–so that helped,” she revealed, discussing her journey returning to racing. “Then I started doing some walk/jogs about four-and-a-half weeks postpartum–I was training for the Olympic trials in February.” When trials came around, she was only four months postpartum; the new mother still ran a very impressive time of 2:49:52.
“I kept getting faster as time went on,” she continued. “I was able to PR in the half this fall, and with Philly, my goal was to see how fast I could run.”
The talk show hosts inquired about her thought process as she took the lead with less than 5-km to go. “In the last three miles, I knew if I was going to pull this off, I had to make a move,” the athlete admitted. She gapped the field with her fastest mile of 5:40. “I had a mantra going through my head the whole race,” she added. “It was ‘my city, my win,’ constantly just playing through my head.”
Her husband Paul also shared his experience watching her win from the sidelines. “It was a dream come true to see her win it at home, in front of all her friends and family,” he said. “It really showed all the hard work that she put into this build.”
Florio’s win makes her only the second Philadelphia woman to claim the Philadelphia Marathon title in more than three decades.
