Pro Runner Susanna Sullivan Aims for the Podium at the N.Y.C. Marathon — In Between Teaching 6th Grade Math (Exclusive)

When Susanna Sullivan shocked the field at the World Athletics Championship marathon in September by leading for more than half the race, she had friends, family, her fellow Team USA teammates cheering her on — and all of her 6th grade students. 

Sullivan lives two lives each day — that of a professional runner, meaning 20-mile long runs on weekends and post-work track sessions, and as a math teacher at The Langley School outside Washington, D.C., in Northern Virginia. 

Unbeknownst to the 35-year-old marathoner, as she was battling her competition and the high humidity in Tokyo for 26.2 miles, Sullivan’s students and their families organized watch parties back in Virginia to cheer her on.

“When I left for Tokyo, I had only been at school for a couple of days,” she explains to PEOPLE. “I think the sixth graders were a little unclear what I was doing until they watched it on TV. But by the time I got back, it seemed like every kid had watched it. They were super excited.”

Sullivan ended up getting passed around the 28K mark of the race, but she held on for a strong finish and nabbed 4th place, just 54 seconds off the podium. And when she came back to school a few days later, she discovered they secretly organized a “Dress Like Mrs. Sullivan Day” in her honor.

“All of them were dressed up as runners and had bibs with the Honda on the top and Tokyo 25 on the bottom with my name in the middle,” she says. “It was just really cute. And then we had some sheet cakes that afternoon and there was a little celebration, it was a nice, warm welcome back.”

Sullivan’s star in the running world was already glowing, but her gutsy fourth-place finish in Tokyo rocketed it even higher. And now, just seven weeks later, she’ll toe the line at New York Road Runners’ TCS New York City Marathon, hoping for that elusive podium finish. Balancing running and her full-time job as a teacher was already busy, but these days, she often feels like she’s “questioning my sanity,” Sullivan says with a laugh. 

“I’ve always been somebody who struggles to say no to things,” she says. “And so as a result, I feel like I’ve been kind of forced into developing some pretty good time management skills and being really disciplined about planning ahead and trying to optimize the blocks in the day that I do have a little bit of time.”

Sullivan credits her husband, Ed Hickey, for taking on the lion’s share of household chores and food prep to keep her running strong, but she admits that the idea of leaving teaching behind and becoming a full-time athlete is starting to “seem more and more attractive.”

“Like, there’s a reason that people do running full-time,” she says with a laugh, “because it takes a really long time to prepare at this level. But one of the things I’ve talked with my coach about is not abandoning the things that like made you successful. So there’s a part of me that’s a little nervous about taking that jump, because I think having something outside of running keeps me grounded.”

Sullivan says her students — and those lovely (if not hot and humid) summers off — keep her in teaching, and she’s spent the last month and a half balancing school and running to prepare for her first race through N.Y.C’s five boroughs.

“I’ve always wanted to do it,” she says of the TCS New York City Marathon. “I’ve been at the finish line the last couple of years and it’s just been incredible. Just the energy of the city; I’ve really wanted to be part of it.”

And back at home in Virginia, she’ll have a chorus of screaming 11-year-olds cheering her on. 

“They’re really excited,” she says, “I think they’ll be tuned in.”