2018 Broad Street Run
May 15, 2018
After many years of entering the lottery, this year I was finally selected in the lottery for the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run. I had know so many people who had previously run the event and felt like it was almost my duty as a citizen of Philadelphia to participate. When I first began running a few years ago, I would spend the first Sunday in May on the treadmill at the gym watching the event live, wishing I could make it to the ten mile distance one day. Now, finally being able to walk up to the line on Olney Avenue, I though, "Sheesh. Ten miles is nothing."
The Broad Street Run course runs almost the entire distance of the Broad Street Subway, the main subway that takes you north and south through the city from Fern Rock all the way down to the Stadiums, plus an extra mile or so into the Philadelphia Navy Yard complex. For the elite runners, the course takes around 45 - 50 minutes to complete...for the rest of us mere mortals, well, it takes a bit more.
Every year nearly 40,000 of us regular runners line up past North Philadelphia at Central High School and sprint our way in to South Philadelphia while thousands of spectators line the street to cheer you on. Heck, some even give you beer. Of course, the are also people hollering curse words at you because you're one of those fancy pants asshole runners who is causing the rerouting of pretty much every SEPTA route for five hours as well as blocking all of Broad Street, preventing everyone from getting their Sunday chores and shopping done.
I think I pretty much wear the same exact clothes in every run :D
The forecast called for a good chance of rain that morning, so, in normal fashion, I had my trusty pink Columbia jacket on (the same jacket I wear in literally every other run - along with the same hat I wear in literally every other run, too!), and after the race started, I wished I had left it home. The weather was cool, but rain jackets are not known for breatheability. I pretty much rolled up my sleeves and sweat the entire time...dripping. Fortunately I had water and electrolytes in bottles with me (always carrying your water means never having to slow or stop at an aide station) to replace all that sweat!
...At the warm up field at Central High School fueling up on my SIS energy
bar and waiting for the corrals to line up...
I was fortunate enough to get to the front of my corral, which really helped me to get my legs under me right away. The first 3/4 of a mile is a straight downhill and being close to the front allows you to not get bottlenecked in the crowd and open up your stride and pace yourself. I ended up catching up to the corral in front of me at around the 5K mark, giving me a big confidence boost. I wanted to make sure I hit my goal time of 1.5 hours and being exactly two weeks post marathon I knew I needed to push myself to do it.
Great shot of runners on the Avenue of the Arts - A section of Broad Street Dominated by Art and Theater Arts
Even though the race is pretty much a straight line (with the exception being the loop around City Hall), knowing the course really makes a difference when it comes to a run. Since I try to carry the majority, if not all, of my water and nutrition on anything over the 10K time, I didn't have to stop at any of the aid stations, so I made sure to keep right down the median for pretty much the entire race (with the exception of moving out of the way after having a nice little asthma attack at the 5K mark - joy).
Some of the runners just about a mile before the finish.
From Central High School down to Temple University, down to Spring Garden/Community College, down to City Hall near my office, from my office to home, and from home to the Navy Yard (one of my training grounds). Splitting the route to my well visited landmarks (I went to both Community College AND Temple University, so seeing all of the new buildings in the area was a bit crazy) kept hydration and nutrition on point the entire length and helped me not think too much about the run (something I had to do the entire length of the marathon). The straight line also meant that I couldn't take a wrong turn, like I do in pretty much every trail run...always.
To my surprise, I kept the run under a 8:30 mile pace the entire length (except for the last mile entering the Navy Yard where you are herded like cattle going into the slaughter where I dropped to just over that pace), which is something I have never, ever been able to do before. 8-minute pace is like what I run in a 5K and that is pushing it for me and my lungs some days. I was so excited to look at my watch entering the gates knowing that I still had four minutes to spare at my goal time.
It took me almost an hour after crossing the finish line - beet red and soaked thanks to an unnecessary jacket - to make it home, only two miles away. The crowd of people finishing, already finished, and making their way down into one of the biggest spectator events of the spring was like a reprise of the Eagles parade - sans the drunks climbing light poles. :P
In all, the events was really fun and I was happy at how organized it was. I can imagine how hard it is to time everything perfectly and make sure there are enough amenities for not only the pro racers, but for the tens of thousands of additional runners; to obtain all of the permits and corral the police officers in just the right spots keeping the traffic (and irate drivers); and to arrange for all of the festivities both before and after the event. I didn't stay for any of the extras after the event, but rather headed home for a nice post-run meal of beer and bacon (and eggs, but mostly bacon) to replenish those carbs and electrolytes - and to celebrate another goal achieved this spring running season! Hopefully I will make the lottery again next year and make it under 1:20 this time!
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