So I ran the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia on Sunday. 40,000 runners all running down Broad Street. Amazing! And it was so much fun! From start to finish, there were people lined up on both sides of the road cheering everyone on, from people on their rooftops (who looked like they were still partying from the night before), ladies still in their bathrobes on their front step, church groups, high school groups, bands, friends and families of runners. It was awesome!
And what a great run we had. My goal was to finish under 1 hour 50 minutes, which would get us under the 11 minute mile pace. We finished at 1 hour 45 minutes, 10.30 pace! Felt strong the entire way. My foot is doing much better, hardly any trouble at all the entire race!
It was strange to run in such a crowd. It seemed like it never thinned out that much at all, other than the initial shoulder to shoulder at the start. At times, it got a little treacherous. Those water cups crushed on the street can get pretty slippery. And the concrete median in the middle of Broad Street can creep up on you and if you're not careful, you'll trip right over it!
I have never seen so many people in one place at one time. There were kids running, looked like maybe 8 and 10 years old. There were seniors running (what a motivation). There were couples running, and large groups all running together.
I ran in memory of my dad, who died of cancer. I had a picture of him pinned to my hat and one pinned to my fuel belt. As we were running, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned a man was running next to me. He pulled a laminated picture out of his pocket to show me that he too was running in memory of his dad.
I think this was my favorite running event so far. I was difficult to get in this year. Hope next year I can get in as well, because this could be an annual event for me.
Some pics:
NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very nice. That's what the Shamrock is like here. I have never seen so many people in my life.
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