Today is National Running Day. In honor of that, here's a feature on a Mt. Airy resident who works with Students Run Philly Style and is planning on running the Philadelphia Marathon in November.

East Mt. Airy resident Molly Martin ran her first marathon in Philadelphia in 2006. 

That year, she ran the 26.2 mile Philadelphia Marathon in about 4 hours and 30 minutes.

She was pleased with that. Running, for her, was originally about dedicating time to improving her health and fitness and pushing toward “a pretty significant accomplishment.”

“Now I want to share that with others,” Martin said.

For the past three years, she’s been coaching and mentoring a team of about fifteen North Philadelphia middle and high school students through Students Run Philly Style. The afterschool program is goal oriented and emphasizes healthy life choices and positive relationship building.

“The runner’s high really does exist,” the 31-year old Martin said. “Runners are happy people.”

The program's philosophy centers around a central idea: If students can complete a marathon, they can succeed in other goals as well.

“It empowers students to run the distance, helps them structure their lives so their school work improves and is a ton of fun,” Martin said. 

She said it gives her goosebumps to think of the kids walking into school the day after the marathon and telling their friends about their experience.

She participated in the Broad Street Run with some of the students on May 1. One could call that ten-miler a warm up for the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20.

Martin typically begins her day—she is a human resources professional—at 6 a.m. with a three to five mile run. Running, she says, has helped her sleep better, eat better and feel better.

Martin, who grew up in Cheltenham Township, calls the Philadelphia Marathon her favorite, though she has also completed in marathons in Chicago and San Diego. She appreciates Philadelphia’s flat, fast course.

Knowing the course and the landmarks along the way helps her judge the race and her pace and makes the race, for her, less mentally challenging than races in other cities, she explained. She also knows lots of people who run the race.

Martin also loves running through Manayunk toward the latter leg of the course, she said, “because Manayunk has a great crowd and that’s when you need the extra oomph.”

All of Martin's family members sit down with the marathon map the night before and plan where they’ll station themselves along the way to cheer her on.

This year, her sister’s wedding will take place the Friday evening before the Sunday marathon. She’s hoping the wedding guests may want to enjoy the excitement of the marathon, too.

Martin also enjoys biking and takes hot yoga from the Mt. Airy Learning Tree. 

A knee injury that involved surgery 18 months ago caused Martin to only be able to run the half-marathon last November. This year, she’s feeling good and eager.

"I think of people who run marathons as self-starters with initiative,” Martin said.

Registration for this year's Philadelphia Marathon opened April 1 for the weekend of November 19 and 20. Marathon organizers expect about 60,000 spectators to line the streets during the event.

Each year, the race has gotten full earlier and earlier, so organizers say that they anticipate registration could close as early as July or August this year.