Broad Street

Today I ran my 8th consecutive Broad Street Run. It feels good to be able to write that. While there has never really been anything too spectacular about my running, I am proud to say that I am consistent.

Over the eight years I've run this race, I've watched it more than triple in size to just over 23,000 finishers. That's a lot of runner butts chugging from North Philly to the Naval Yard.

Seebo couldn't join in the fun today as he had to attend to his godfatherly duties. Amy and I made arrangements to go down together to the race. This was Amy's second Broad Street and while she loves the race... she is much much less enthusiastic about the subway ride to the start. I think it's fair to say that Amy has an abnormal aversion to subways, particularly crowded ones. The reason for that, I'm not sure... you'd have to ask her. But for anyone, being crammed like a sardine into a subway with thousands of other runners for a solid 30+ minutes can be a less than pleasant experience.

Given the enormous number of registered runners, it seemed like the organizers really stepped up their efforts to make things go smoothly. They had shuttle buses from the parking lot to the subway station to help move people along. Amy and I tried to board one of the buses only to be turned away just as the people in front of us boarded. "All full", the driver said, "Take the next one." Grrr. So we headed to the next bus and were the first ones on. Amy, being the smart cookie that she is, grabbed the front seat. Yeah, I know, the cool kids ride on the back of the bus, but those in the front get out first... and, turns out, get to commander the bus. Sort of. I'll get to that.

As we sat and waited for the bus to fill with runners, the bus driver casually mentioned that instead of taking us to the subway station, that she might be able just to take us up to the start. Amy's eyes went wide with excitement. Could it be that she would be able to escape the subway?!?!? I'm not sure how many Our Fathers and Hail Marys Amy said while we waited for the driver to get confirmation/permission.

I've known Amy a long time. We've done a lot, been through a lot together. But I have never seen Amy as excited and overcome with pure joy as when the bus driver confirmed that she would, in fact, be driving us to the race start. I didn't know it was that deep, but apparently for Amy, it was.

Our excitement was quickly tempered when we soon realized that our bus driver had no clue where she was going. She had followed another bus onto 76W, but lost him soon afterwards and was not sure how to get where we needed to go. Amy sprung into action and along with me and our fellow front seat compatriots, navigated the bus successfully to the north end of Broad Street.

Pre-race was typical... throngs of people, long porto-potty lines. The race was started in waves this year, according to color-coded corrals. I think this worked beautifully as there was not nearly as much bobbing and weaving around other runners those first few miles. Kudos to race organizers for addressing this issue.

As usual the energy during the race was amazing. This is the reason I run this race every year. Everyone is upbeat and joking and just having fun - despite the skies looking like they'd open up any second. I love the transition of spectators too - from the unsuspecting North Philly residents leaning out of their windows, to the Temple students cheering on their friends, to the City Hall mob of supporters. It's easy to let the momentum of the crowd just pull you down Broad Street.

And that's kind of how it felt for me. I had fairly low expectations going into this race. I am not in the same running shape I've been in the last few years and was content to run something around a 1:30. Of course, I went out a bit fast... first mile was something like 8:47. But I felt good and really just felt pulled along at a nice clip by the energy of the crowds... runners and spectators alike. Subsequent miles came in about the same.

Around mile three, I started to think that sub 1:30 was a distinct possibility. Every mile that came in under 9 minutes was like a little extra cash in the bank I could borrow against later, if need be. And I know what it's like to run out of steam around mile seven. It's certainly happened to me before. But not today. Things just seemed to go well. I felt good... the rain was holding at a light drizzle... and my legs felt reasonably good. I crossed the finish line at 1:27:32.... can't complain about that.

Soon after I finished, the skies opened and down came the rain, in sheets. The hardest part of this race was waiting to meet up with Amy afterwards and walking back to the car. That was a long walk. But eventually, I was dry, warm, and with a belly full of food. Now I'm just waiting for my chocolate chip banana bread to come out of the oven. Mmmmm.

Looking forward to next year.