Posted December 13, 2024

Katie Florio, 30, a center city Philadelphia resident and parishioner of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, became only the third hometown woman to win the Philadelphia Marathon in race history on Nov. 24 among a pack of 17,000 runners with an estimated 100,000 spectators cheering along the course.

Florio had placed third in the same race in 2019, and although she gave birth to her first child in October 2023, she came back strong in this year’s marathon – finishing the 26.2-mile city course in two hours, 32 minutes and 42 seconds and achieving her personal best (an individual runner’s fastest time for a given distance).

The last Philadelphia woman to win the marathon before Florio was Amber Zimmerman in 2022, and the first was Lori Lawson, who won in 1987 and 1988, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Florio has since appeared in many local news stories and even NBC’s Today Show along with her husband Paul and her 1-year-old son Nikko.

Florio grew up in Ardmore with father Tim Rodden, an accounting professional; mother Marylou, an insurance professional; older sister Jamie, and younger brother Joey.

The Rodden family attended Sunday Mass together at St. Denis Parish in Havertown, where the children attended the parish school and both parents volunteered much time.

“They were busy people, but very present,” Florio said of her parents, who she calls her role models.

Florio found a talent for running early on, beginning with CYO trach in  fourth grade. Her father Tim used to run alongside her when she first started, but he soon had to follow her on his bike as she built up speed. As a fourth-grader she could run one mile at a 6-minute, 30-second pace, difficult for most adult runners.

By seventh grade Florio was practicing with the cross-country track team at SS. Colman-John Neumann School, nearby in Bryn Mawr.

As a student at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor, she continued to run and was also a member of the school’s Pro-Life Club and National Honor Society.

After graduating from Carroll in 2011, she attended Penn State University where she studied kinesiology and worked in a women’s health and exercise lab. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2015.

Father Kevin Gallagher, pastor of St. Denis, has known Florio since she was about 8 years old, and describes her as “a very disciplined person and always driven to succeed.”

Florio is now a vice president at Goldman-Sachs in Philadelphia, where she’s worked for the last seven years managing retail investment funds for individual investors.

Her love of running has continued all these years, and she finds its “meditative” quality most appealing. “It’s a good stress reliever,” she said.

She runs twice daily, first in the morning before taking son Nikko to school, with an additional run at lunchtime or in the evening after putting Nikko to bed.

On how she meets her many responsibilities with running, work and home life, Florio says, “I’m very efficient, and because I live in Center City, everything is very close to me.” Her office, Nikko’s school and running trails are all nearby, which “really cuts down on time,” she said.

Florio points to her Catholic faith that she says has accompanied her throughout her life, providing a “a sense of community” with people who “share similar values.”

Her favorite saint is St. Rose of Lima, from whom she took her confirmation name.  Florio has fond memories of attending Christmas Eve Mass annually with the rest of the Rodden family at St. Rose of Lima Parish in West Philadelphia (closed in 2019), which was her grandmother’s home parish.

Florio also finds peace through prayer every evening, and adding, “During those hard miles in the race, I’ll be praying” for the strength to reach the finish line.

She and husband Paul, who she met in 2015, attend Mass regularly with son Nikko at the Cathedral Basilica, where he was baptized. As with any young child, he is “very active” and “a little challenging to take to Mass,” Florio said.

She looks ahead to the possibility of next competing in the 2025 Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run in Philadelphia. As with all races, she’ll likely prepare the evening before with her favorite pre-race meal, pasta Bolognese, lovingly prepared by Paul, who she describes as “a really good cook.”