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The 2023 St. Petersburg Marathon, a.k.a. the St. Petersburg Distance Classic, will be held on Sunday, February 12 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The race course loops along St. Petersburg’s waterfront and starts and ends at North Shore Park. Starting in 2023, this marathon can be used as a Boston Marathon qualifier. It’ll be a busy race day as there is a marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k all running on the same day.
Start time
The marathon will begin bright and early at 6:35 a.m. ET at North Shore Park. Competitors will have six hours to finish the marathon course.
How to watch
There could be some local media coverage, like for the evening news, but otherwise, the only way to for sure catch the action will be in person as a spectator along the course.
Course map
This course is said to be “extremely flat.” It begins at North Shore Park and then weaves through Snell Isle and down Central Avenue. Participants will also run down Pinellas Trail as they pass Tropicana Field, which is home to the Tampa Bay Rays.
A course map can be found here.
Weather via AccuWeather
Sunday’s weather looks pretty good for runners. While there will be a stray thunderstorm on Saturday, Sunday looks dry. The high for the day is 64, with a low of 54. The weather description reads, “breezy in the a.m.; some sun,” and there is a 6% chance of rain for the day. The wind is expected to blow at 15 mph, but gusts are expected up to 31 mph.
Prize money
The website for the marathon suggests that they give out prize money to the top three men’s and women’s finishers overall, in the Masters' division and in the GrandMaster division. It doesn’t go into details about the exact denominations, however.
Who won the last race?
The 2022 and 2021 races were held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Matthew Bertrand won the 2020 race in 3:00:37. He was followed by Elia Luti (3:03:14) and Dustin Maher (3:04:14).
Katelin Chambers was the fastest women’s finisher in 3:24:53. Danielle Kissel came in second in 3:29:01, while Sara Combs was the third-place finisher in 3:32:53.