Philadelphia nurse lands an Olympic ‘A’ marathon qualifying time

Full-time Philadelphia nurse Samantha Roecker, 27, is making waves in the distance running world after a third-place finish at the California International Marathon in December. Roecker, who is unsponsored, finished the 26.2-mile race in 2:30:25, two minutes behind the winner.

Her finish time smashed her previous marathon PR by nearly eight minutes and ranked her as the 12 th –fastest woman so far heading to the Olympic Marathon Trials in February 2020.

Roecker logs about 100 miles a week, running whenever she can, usually around 5:30 in the morning before tackling four 7:30am to 6:30pm hospital shifts each week. “I have to be hyper-focused,” Roecker told Runners World. “I measure out every minute.”

Photo by: Chuck Utash / Dyestat
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