Penn State kinesiology alumna wins Philadelphia Marathon

PHILADELPHIA — Penn State alumna Katie Florio’s win at the 2024 Philadelphia Marathon can be described with one word: dedication. This race was a culmination of years of dedication to running, motherhood, academics and career, Florio said, and she was able to beat thousands of other women on the streets she calls home.  

Florio has been a runner for her whole life, she said. She started with track in fourth grade and then added cross country in seventh grade. She was highly competitive on both teams early on. Florio excelled in high school running and decided to pursue excellence at the Division 1 level, which led her to Penn State and a major in kinesiology.

“As soon as I did my official visit to Penn State, I knew it was home,” Florio said. “I just felt so comfortable. I wanted a big school with a big sports environment but that was also academically challenging.”  

She said she found all that and more at Penn State, where she was able to participate in everything that interested her. During her time in school, she was a Schreyer Scholar, student researcher and student-athlete. Now, she is a mother, has a full-time job, and is an elite marathon runner. Florio's ability to balance competing priorities has made it possible to pursue all of her interests, she said, and she developed that skill during her time in Schreyer Honors College.  

“I actually joined Schreyer my sophomore year. I didn't apply to Schreyer [at first] because I wanted to see how I was going to manage Division I athletics and academics in general. And then once I got more comfortable, I was like, OK, I can do this,” Florio said.

As a student, Florio combined her interests in science and running and directly applied it to help the runners on her cross-country team. She worked in the Women’s Health and Exercise Laboratory, where she dove deeper into her kinesiology major. The time spent in the lab inspired her to write her honors thesis about the impact of energy and nutrition on performance. She was able to use the members of the women’s cross-country team as participants in her research. Before the season, she collected data and then compared it to the runners’ results at the end of the season.  

“It's pretty common in long-distance running to meet people who are underweight because they think it helps their performance to be a little bit lighter. But really, in the long run, it negatively impacts performance. [My thesis] did prove that you need to be eating enough and fueling enough in order to have peak performance,” Florio said. This thesis research helped Florio find longevity and success in her running career, especially postpartum, she said.

Balancing a full course load, a thesis and Division 1 sports was no easy feat, Florio said. She had to ensure that she was disciplined enough to get everything done. She blocked out her time and would do classes in the morning, schoolwork before practice, and more work after. This regimented schedule allowed her to find time to participate in everything that interested her, she said.

“To be a long-distance runner, it’s all about discipline, especially at Penn State. And it's the same with academics and getting into a routine. I was very routine-oriented, and I still am,” Florio said.   

Even with a strict routine, Florio was still able to be adaptable, she said. Throughout her time at Penn State, she always thought she wanted to be a doctor. However, during her senior year, Florio said she realized this was no longer the path she wanted to pursue. She made connections with Scholar alumni and Penn State alumni at large, and took the steps to begin a career in finance; today, she is a private wealth adviser at Goldman Sachs. 

Florio mentioned that while studying for her Certified Financial Analyst exam, she was able to take a bit of a break from running, which helped her recover from some of the burnout of racing in college. Once she passed the exams required to become a wealth advisor, she was able to find the time to train for a marathon.  

Florio said she is still balancing competing priorities, but now they look a little different. Along with her full-time career at Goldman Sachs, she is also a mother to her son Nico. And on top of all this, she is an elite marathon runner, logging more than 100 miles each week.  

"[Motherhood has] been a lot more demanding time-wise, but also amazing. It's really shifted my mindset. I used to be so, almost crazy, before a race, so stressed and during the race, I wouldn't really smile. I was so focused. And after having my son Nico, it just totally flipped my mindset. I'm out here for fun and I smile, I take in the crowd, which I think has helped me, makes me relaxed,” said Florio. 

She runs every day, often twice a day. After college, she was missing the community at Penn State and immediately found a track club to join where she is surrounded by other runners. It helps her training to be surrounded by other runners, she said; the community element helps her complete all of her mileage.  

In 2018, Florio was ready to debut in the marathon.  In her first ever marathon, Florio qualified for the 2020 United States Olympic Trials. She qualified again in 2024, making her one of the fastest marathon runners in the country for the second time. Florio ran in the 2024 Olympic marathon trials just four months postpartum and won the Philadelphia marathon at 13 months postpartum, challenging everyone’s expectations about what mothers can do after having children.  

“There’s really not a lot of information about [running postpartum] which is so funny because, well, women have been having kids forever. So this isn’t anything new. I just think that there needs to be some more education related to running in pregnancy and postpartum,” Florio said.  

Florio hasn’t shied away from being a new mother and elite runner, she said. As part of her “victory tour” after the Philadelphia Marathon win, Florio brought her son to everything, including the morning news, a Sixers game, and onto the field at an Eagles game.  

Winning the Philadelphia Marathon was a culmination of years of work — early mornings, long runs, research, motherhood, and many miles. Racing in the streets of her community was an emotional moment, Florio said. 

“I have the feeling of [crossing the finish line] almost bottled up. The streets were lined with people, they were popping confetti, music was blasting," she said. "It was surreal. It was incredible."