I forgot to post that I was running the 2008 Broad Street Run in Philly today. Below is the race report...
2008 BROAD STREET RUN
Today I completed my first Broad Street Run. This is a pretty popular race in Philadelphia and for years I have always wanted to run it but didn’t think I could handle the 10-mile run down Broad Street. Now that I’ve run a number of races over 10 miles within the past year, including 2 marathons, I was more excited then worried about running this race. The goal was to try to finish in under 75 minutes (1:15:00) for a 7:30 pace. Pretty aggressive but since I ran a 7:50 pace at a 20K 2 weeks ago I figured this was doable.
The Course – The course for this race is about as “straight forward” as you can get. You basically park your car in the Stadium Complex parking lot in South Philly and take the Broad Street subway north to the Olney Station. The course is 10 miles straight down Broad Street from around Olney to the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The crowds were pretty nuts. They announced that there were over 22,000 runners this year and they had bid numbers that went as high as 25,000. When I got out at Olney it was 7:45AM, 45 minutes before the 8:30AM start. I made a beeline over to the porta-potties which had some insane lines. Managed to find a somewhat reasonable line and made it to my starting area around 8:15AM. You basically line up according to your expected pace by the honor system. I decided to try the 7-minute mile pace group. The announcer said next year they are going to corrals because of the size of the crowds.
The weather was kind of hard to figure out. It was completely overcast at the start time and there was a lot of dew in the air. However, the temps felt like they were in the low 50’s so I decided to lose the sweat pants and go with shorts, a long sleeve shirt, and a short sleeve shirt over top. I regret not ditching the long sleeve shirt as it started to get a little warm around Mile 4 but I stuck it out.
About 5 minutes before the start I saw some security guards trying to make there way through the crowd. I though that maybe a star was going to be running the race next to me but it turned out to be Philly’s new Mayor Michael Nutter. I got to shake the Mayor’s hand which was pretty cool. He’s a very nice guy and has done a great job in the short time he has been in office. He didn't run the race although he said he would train for it next year.
The race started at 8:30AM sharp. The first mile was a little tough trying to deal with the large crowd but I ended up with a decent split due to the fact that it was mostly downhill. For the most part Broad Street is pretty flat and dead straight with the exception when it passes through City Hall. I basically focused straight ahead for the entire race and ran pretty consistent splits between 7:00 and 7:30. I ended up popping a PowerBar Gel early, around Mile 2, because I was feeling a little sugar rush and figured I would need the boost to maintain the pace. It worked. With the exception of the humid and slightly warm temps I felt great the entire race.
I have worked near City Hall my entire life so it’s always cool to run through Center City. It was also the first time I have run through my old South Philly neighborhood since I moved out of the city in 2003. I even had a brief glimpse of my old apartment at Broad & Shunk Street around Mile 8. That was kind of nice although I don’t miss the place...just the food.
It was really a pretty nice race for me. I got a little tired around Mile 9 but kept up my pace all the way into the Navy Yard and the finish line. DW, DS9, and DD& were all waiting just pass the finish line which was nice. DS and DW ran a kids 1-mile race inside of the Navy Yard and had their medals on which was kind of neat. That was the first time either of them ran a mile and both made it without stopping.
I finished in 1:12:50 for a 7:14 pace so I was well under the goal time. My split times are below…
Time Distance Split time Split pace
0:07:08 1 7:08 7:09
0:13:54 2 6:45 6:46
0:21:04 3 7:09 7:10
0:28:14 4 7:09 7:10
0:35:30 5 7:16 7:16
0:42:33 6 7:03 7:04
0:49:47 7 7:13 7:14
0:57:16 8 7:29 7:29
1:04:45 9 7:29 7:29
1:12:17 10 7:31 7:32
1:12:51 10.08 0:33 7:16
Highlights
- Well Organized – This is a great race and it’s sponsored by Blue Cross so they have a lot of money to support it. There was basically a fair atmosphere at the finish area with a lot of things for kids to do like moon bounces and rock climbing. They had plenty of freebies like caricatures (my kids had caricatures done for free).
- Post Race Refrshments – Plenty of Philly soft pretzels, Gatorade, Powerade, and water to the finish along with lots of other goodies. The kids got basically the same stuff as the runners too.
- 10-Mile PR – That was, by far, the fastest 10 miles I ever ran.
- Fast Course – You can’t beat running a straight point to point 10-mile course that had only a couple of little turns in it. This is also about as flat a course as I have ever run and I’d even have to say that it was more downhill then uphill, considering the finish line is at sea level.
- Crowds – The crowds were pretty nice for this course but with 22,000+ runner it was to be expected. There were a lot of people lined up along the course from Center City all the way to the Navy Yard.
Water – Plenty of water along the course and lots of volunteers.
Lowlights
Really can’t think of any.
For any of you that are within driving distance of Philly this is a race worth checking out.
Third, the highlight section was very useful, and I loved that you took care to mention the post-race refreshments and the flat course. I think you've sold me on those two points alone. Fourth, have I mentioned your incredible pace, splits, and going under your goal time?? 
And I think your pace is just great, even if it's not a PR for you (hoping to get there someday).
