No one would have expected a full-time nurse from Philadelphia to keep pace with the elites at one of the top marathons in the country, but that’s just what Samantha Roecker did in December.

At the California International Marathon (CIM), which saw 99 women qualify for the Olympic Trials, the top three women finished almost exactly one minute apart. Emma Bates, who recently signed on with Asics, won in 2:28:19. HOKA Northern Arizona Elite’s Stephanie Bruce finished second in 2:29:21. Then Roecker, an unsponsored runner, crossed the Sacramento finish line in 2:30:25.

“The race was all a blur,” Roecker, 27, told Runner’s World. “In every race I’m in, I try to find a competitive pack to run with. And this time, that was the lead pack.”

Her splits for the race—which every year attracts thousands of Boston Marathon and Olympic Trials hopefuls with its fast, slightly downhill course—were nearly perfect: a 1:14 for the first half and 1:15 for second.

“Both of my splits beat my previous half marathon best by almost two and a half minutes,” Roecker said. “When I saw the time at halfway, I figured I’d at least get a half PR out of the race. At that point, adrenaline kicked in, and I just hung on.”

Samantha Roecker (left) places 3rd in CIM behind winner Emma Bates (middle) and runner-up finisher Stephanie Bruce. @eyewitnessed | @notafraid2fail

Roecker’s overall finish time not only beat her previous marathon PR by almost eight minutes, but also ranked her as the 12th-fastest woman so far heading into the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February 2020. While Roecker’s time is slower than those of Shalane Flanagan, Amy Cragg, Molly Huddle, and Des Linden, she’s well within striking distance of the Olympians. And if she continues progressing in the marathon as she has over the last few years, she very well might be bumping elbows with the leaders in Atlanta.

Learning to love long distances

Roecker grew up in Charleton, New York, a small town near Saratoga Springs, and started running in seventh grade. She grew faster and stronger at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School, where she led her varsity cross-country team to win two New York state titles and qualify for the 2007 Nike Cross Nationals, which she placed 9th in.

Her high school success caught the attention of Providence College coach Ray Treacy (also coach to Molly Huddle), who recruited Roecker to run track and cross country. A year later, she was joined by Emily Sisson, and the two helped form a dynamo cross-country squad that finished runner-up to Oregon at the 2012 NCAA Championships. On the track, Roecker specialized in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, running 16:42 and 35:21, respectively.

“I was always on the travel teams, but I wasn’t a great college runner,” Roecker said. “By the time I graduated, I was pretty burned out of running.”

After finishing up her fifth year of college competition in 2014, Roecker moved to Washington, D.C., to begin a master’s program in global health at Georgetown University. While she was content to take a break from track workouts and races, she began to feel the pull of longer distances. That spring, she took a trip with friends to cheer on the Boston Marathon runners, and she decided then that she wanted to be a participant in the 2015 race. She signed up for the 2014 Via Marathon in Easton, Pennsylvania, that September.

“My goal was to qualify for Boston, but I ended up winning the race,” said Roecker, who debuted in 3:02:17, clearing the Boston time standard by a long shot. “It was fun to race and win again, and be competitive. But I told myself, ‘You’re just doing this for fun.’”

A few months later, Roecker set a personal best time of 2:53:52 at Boston. “It was pouring rain that year, but I had a blast,” she said. “I still didn’t have any desire to seriously compete. I wanted an Olympic Trials qualifying time, but not in the immediate future. Having that mindset took the pressure off training and racing.”

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Roecker didn’t have much time to stress about running, anyway—she had to get through grad school first. After receiving her degree from Georgetown, she moved to Philadelphia in 2016 to begin a nursing program at University of Pennsylvania.

In between classes and clinicals, she joined the Philadelphia Runner Track Club, a semi-elite group stocked with recently graduated runners, to train for the New York City Marathon. That November, she crossed the Central Park finish line in 2:45:29, placing 19th overall for women.

“From then on, I figured I had some potential in the marathon,” Roecker said. “So I went all-in.”



Making each minute count

Over the next two years, she built up a solid training foundation—logging around 100-mile weeks that included pre-dawn base runs and tempos, Tuesday night track workouts, and weekend long runs around town and along the Schuylkill River—all while working four hospital shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. per week.

Her commitment paid off: In October 2017, she set a new PR of 2:38:14 at the Hartford Marathon in Connecticut, officially qualifying for the Olympic Trials.

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“I run whenever I can,” Roecker said. “I do the bulk of my training before work, around 5:30 in the morning. Luckily, I always have people to run with, since most of the Philly Runners work full-time. I’ll wake up, do my run, shower, change in two minutes, then walk 10 minutes to work. Or sometimes I’ll run to work, to make it faster. Then I grab breakfast and water in the cafeteria.”

“I have to be hyper-focused. I measure out every minute.”

After she clocks out for the day, Roecker usually meets a group to do a second run or workout, then cooks dinner at home before bed. “I don’t have much of a social life,” she admitted, laughing.

“I have to be hyper-focused,” Roecker said. “I measure out every minute.”

Fortunately, Roecker’s fine-tuned routine and gradual progression has kept her mainly injury-free through the years—and prepared her to lay down a seriously fast time at CIM. “I wanted to break 2:38, to get the ‘A’ standard,” she said. “I definitely didn’t expect to finish where I did.”

It’s safe to say that we can now expect Roecker in the mix among the top marathoners—even if she isn’t sponsored by a shoe company like much of her competition. Her favorite race apparel is Tracksmith, which she models for on the side, she said.

“I’d love the team aspect of being behind a brand,” Roecker said. “But I don’t really want to be a professional runner. I think it would change something about running for me. Right now, it’s all fun. I like proving to myself that I belong up there.”

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Hailey Middlebrook Digital Editor Hailey first got hooked on running news as an intern with Running Times, and now she reports on elite runners and cyclists, feel-good stories, and training pieces for Runner's World and Bicycling magazines.

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