The Philadelphia Marathon is expecting its largest weekend turnout, despite the windy forecast

Philadelphia Marathon organizers are expecting the largest full weekend turnout in the organization’s history.

Between the half-marathon Saturday, 8K events, and the 31st running of the marathon on Sunday, 37,000 athletes are expected to embark from the start line on Ben Franklin Parkway. The race will finish at Eakins Oval in front of the Art Museum.

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The weather Sunday for the marathon, which begins at 7 a.m., is expected to be blustery. Forecasts are projecting steady northwest winds between 14 and 16 mph, with potential gusts reaching up to 25 mph.

Race director Kathleen Titus that said the wind conditions are being closely monitored, and that athlete safety will be a priority.

“[Weather] is something we monitor every year,” Titus said. “We meet with the National Weather Service every morning and we’re assessing what those wind gusts are. We have criteria in place based on the wind speed of what will come down.”

Potential dangers in environments with 25 mph wind gusts include timing clocks, large signage, or anything that “could fly away,” Titus said. The race’s organizers are planning to eliminate any hazards with the high winds, such as lowering timing clocks to the ground.

“Safety is number one,” Titus said. “The runners have to remain safe. We’ll make a decision Saturday morning by 3 a.m. We’re sitting down with the National Weather Service by 4 a.m. We’ve got the plan of the day in place, and we run tactical scenarios over and over again. We’ve got this down like a well-oiled machine.”

With 17,000 athletes registered for the marathon, race organizers are expecting a significant number of spectators. Tweaks in the design of the course over the last few races have allowed for spectators supporting runners to cheer them on at the beginning, middle, and end of the race.

“It gives people a chance to see their loved ones not only at the start of the race, but then they can see them again at about their halfway point,” Titus said. “Then they’ll see them again on the return.”

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Titus said that the final 10-mile leg of the race, which stretches from Fairmount Park to Manayunk and back again on Kelly Drive, has become a prime spot to watch the race.

“That’s now created a large spectator zone from Fountain Green all the way to the finish line,” Titus said. “Before, we started to see those crowds more around the end of Boathouse Row.”

This marathon will be the 94th for Gloria Vasquez.

Vasquez, 74, holds a goal of completing 100 marathons in all 50 states before she turns 100. She has completed races on five continents.

“I’m constantly in training because I’m trying to do two marathons a year,” Vasquez said. “I work. I have a day-care, which keeps me very busy. But I run [five miles] in the morning, and then on weekends I run four to five hours at the beach.”

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Vasquez, who lives in Florida, has run the Philadelphia Marathon before. She said the convenience of having family nearby made her excited to come back to the city. She has two grandchildren living in Philadelphia, one of whom is an engineering student at Drexel.

“I do whatever is easy for me,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez said that she’s not particularly concerned about the potential weather for the race.

“I don’t think about that, I just bundle up,” Vasquez said. “Whatever it is, it is. I won’t run fast, I’ll walk, I’ll do whatever. As long as I finish, I don’t care.”