Race Weekend Kicks Off With Philadelphia Half-Marathon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Thousands of runners took a tour of the city Saturday morning as part of the Philadelphia Half Marathon - kind of like an appetizer before Sunday's main course, which would be the full 26.2-mile marathon.
The 13.1-mile run takes runners past some of the city's best known landmarks, and even though it's a half-marathon, it's still quite the challenge, which had first timers like Jenny from Downingtown excited but nervous.
"Get a personal first in, and I've been training so I feel like I'm really ready and now I'm ready to just get it over with," she said. "I'm really excited though."
But Jenny brought a secret weapon to help.
"I'll eat jelly beans around the track," she said. "I know sounds really terrible, but it's what I've been doing, and so I'm just going to stick with it. It's been working, so."
Even experienced runners like Laura were a little antsy.
"Well, I don't feel as fully trained as I do sometimes," she said, "but we'll see how it goes."
And others like William from Houston were ready to roll.
"About two weeks ago I did 96 minutes in Houston," he explained, "so I'm hoping to better that time."
All runners agreed the first and most important goal was just to finish, and have a good time doing it.