I came away from Sunday’s New York City Marathon with cramps, a full stomach, and five miles of regret about signing up for the course for a third time. Sarah Pezzino finished in a hot dog costume. The 23-year-old from Easton, Pennsylvania, ran 2:49:15—fast enough to make my name stitched onto a tank top feel like a modest effort.
Pezzino, a personal trainer and group fitness coach, was chasing the Guinness record for the fastest marathon dressed as a savory food. The old mark stood at 3:11:34; she beat it by more than 22 minutes. Guinness still needs to review her evidence before the result is official, but the crowds who saw her run should make witnesses easy to find.
The costume makes for the headline. The more striking part is what Pezzino had to overcome to get back to the starting line—and how little the clock mattered once she did.
A return to racing, with a purpose
Pezzino started running in a local series at age 4, then competed in cross country and track through high school and college. She made her marathon debut in Chicago in 2024. At the following year’s race, a serious medical emergency at Mile 17 forced her to withdraw. She came close to quitting the sport.
“I'd put too much pressure on myself and lost the joy in the sport,” she told Runner’s World.
A close friend persuaded her to try racing again. Together, they planned to run Chicago and New York in 2026, raise money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), and bring their friends and community into the effort. The goal was to make running enjoyable again, without turning each race into a test of the clock.
New York Road Runners // Getty Images. Pezzino (center, in a hot dog suit) averaged 6:28 mile pace during the NYC Marathon.
The fundraising had a personal connection. Pezzino’s mother died of a rare cancer in 2022, and Mike, the husband of a close family friend, died from multiple myeloma. She’d worked with MMRF for her first marathon and wanted to reconnect with the organization. With colleagues at CycleFit Lehigh Valley, she put together raffles, 6Ks, ice cream scooping, and “no-shower happy hours.” The events raised more than $8,000.
From a Target costume to a record attempt
The hot dog idea came along during the planning. A friend spotted a costume at Target, Pezzino tried it on, recorded herself running through the store, and sent the video to the group. “The next thing I knew, I was walking out of Target with a hot dog costume,” she recalled.
The Guinness attempt followed later, after she found the savory food category while researching possible records. By September, she’d committed to the run, despite the obvious challenge: the costume was labeled for ages 8 and up. Its body fit an adult, but the headpiece was too small to wear normally, so she used it as a hood. A CycleFit colleague tailored the sides. Before race day, she’d run just three miles in the outfit, the day before the marathon.
Cool weather in New York helped. Pezzino avoided overheating and chafing, and said the costume caused few problems during the race. She carried a Nathan handheld water bottle for the first 20 miles to help with fueling. Her main complaint came afterward: “The biggest issue was getting it off afterward, when it was all sweaty.”
At the start, runners wanted to know if she’d keep the costume on or abandon it with her throwaway clothes. Pezzino posed for photos, then ran through a chorus of “HOOOT DOOOG!” and shouts of “Look at that glizzy!” The attention could have made the day feel like a stunt. Instead, she spent much of the race talking with other runners, stopping for photos, and taking in the crowds.
Three weeks earlier, she’d run a personal best of 2:45:57 in Chicago. New York was a different kind of race, even with a record attempt underway. “In New York, my mind was nowhere near the clock,” she said. “It was set on having fun, embracing the crowds, seeing the city, and taking the race mile by mile.”
New York Road Runners // Getty Images. Pezzino poses at the finish in Central Park.
Crossing the finish line in Central Park was a moment she might not have imagined a year earlier. Grand marshal Tracy Morgan saw her and said, “I hope that hot dog is relishing this moment.” A broadcaster soon pulled her aside and clipped a microphone to the mustard on her costume. Pezzino was still processing the finish: a sub-three-hour marathon dressed as something from a baseball game’s concession stand.
Her favorite moment came in the final 200 meters, when she spotted her friends and CycleFit teammates cheering. They’d helped bring her back to racing, supported the fundraising, and stood by her through two marathons in three weeks. Their presence mattered more than the costume’s reception. “I didn't cross a single finish line this year alone,” she said.
Find Your Next Running Playlist
[Start listening to Rachel Entrekin’s running playlist](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a73301472/rachel-entrekin-running-playlist/)
[Start listening to Jess McClain’s running playlist](https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a71783718/jess-mcclain-running-playlist/)
Sean Abrams was Men’s Health’s Senior Editor for Growth and Engagement. A former hip-hop dancer, he has also written for *Maxim*, *Elite Daily*, and *AskMen*.
