Broad Street Run

What a race! This was my first experience with Philly's Broad Street Run and I'm definitely hooked. I'm already thinking about next year's race! I wasn't actually signed up for the race until several weeks ago when my mom's treatment forced her to give up her spot on the starting line.This would have been my mom's third year running the race for the American Cancer Society as part of the "Low and Slow Team" or "LAST" which is a smaller sect of Team DetermiNation. It would be impossible to put into words how much this race means to my mom and my family, but I was thrilled to have the opportunity to run the race in my mom's place and help to raise money for such an amazing cause.

The Weekend

I headed up to Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon after a quick round of disc golf in Delaware in the morning. Driving into Philly was nice and easy and the convention center was just a short walk from a number of parking garages that were offering discounted rates for the race. Since I was running the race for Team DetermiNation, they had already picked up all of my gear, I just had to stop by their table to grab it all.This was actually a huge convenience as I watched the line for t-shirts inside the expo triple in size while I was walking around. It was nice not having to worry about any of that. Since the bib had originally been for my mom, I also had to stop by the corral change table and was actually surprised how easy it was to jump up a few corrals, no questions asked. I did make a quick loop around the expo to check out the vendors and was happy to see Aftershokz and Oofos setup right inside the entrance.

The Dinner

On Saturday night we had a pre-race dinner sponsored by the American Cancer Society (ACS). There was plenty of pasta to go around as well as a few raffles to continue to fundraise throughout the night. During the dinner, we heard from representatives from ACS, researchers working to advance and discover new treatments, as well as several cancer survivors.It was an incredible experience hearing the stories of so many others who had been returning to the Broad Street Run each year. It was such a powerful program and further solidified for me how lucky I was to have the opportunity to be running this race on my mom's behalf.

The Race

The alarms went off at 5:00 am which is always a bit disorienting. I quickly stumbled over to the coffee maker and tried to shake off the sleepiness. I try to do as much organizing as I can the night before the race so I was up, dressed, and ready to go within about 15 minutes of getting out of bed. We were scheduled to meet the rest of our team at 5:45 to head to the starting line.It was definitely nice getting access to the ACS tent at the starting line. We got to take a few group photos at the starting line before the race was scheduled to start, and we also had a prime viewing spot to watch the elites take off at the start. Runners also had the ability to relax at the tent until just before our corrals were set to start, at which point a volunteer would come over and lead us to the starting line.

Miles 1 - 4

Fresh off of my first marathon, and after struggling through an achy run last Wednesday, I was certainly a bit hesitant to push myself too hard, especially at the start of the race. Since the race was just a straight shot down Broad Street, I hadn't done much investigating of the course. I knew this was considered a "fast" course because much of the race was downhill. I'd also been warned not to go out too fast because runner's had a tendency to burn themselves out.I started nice and easy, around an 8:30 pace, and focussed on staying calm. My hope was to channel the same mindset I had during the first miles of the marathon so that the first five miles would fly by. I knew I could push hard on the back half so I wanted the first half to feel easy. The crowd definitely helped at this point so I wasn't focussed on distance, I was just taking it all in. I just kept thinking how much I wanted to return next year.

Miles 5 - 7

Since the Broad Street Run is a straight line, you can see City Hall from the starting line which I knew was just passed the halfway point. This can be a blessing and a curse since it can seem so far off at the start, but it felt great running passed the building with plenty of gas in the tank. My hips were sore, that was what I had been most concerned about, but I was able to push that out of my mind for most of the race.Anytime I started thinking about stiffness in my legs or questioned my energy, I kept thinking about the stories from the dinner the night before. I thought about my mom and how much this race meant to her and to me. There was plenty of external motivation from the crowd but the internal motivation was a huge help during the last 5 miles.

Miles 8 - 10

The last 3 miles ran right past the Eagles Stadium and this is where I really started to push myself. I get the sense that Philadelphia pride is riding pretty high still post Super Bowl and it was certainly apparent here. I will say I started to get a bit frustrated though because as I was speeding up, it was getting more difficult to weave in and out of the slower crowds.I had noticed at the start that a surprising number of people were hopping into corrals far ahead of their own. This became very apparent as I got closer to the finish line. The Broad Street Run is also a substantially larger race than I'm used to but I can't help but imagine that the waves of runners starting ahead of their assigned corral definitely played a role in the congestion.Entering the Navy Yard was such a rush, and with just a quarter mile left, I let loose. I felt my stride lengthen and my heart start pounding as the finish line came into sight. I was still fighting my way through the crowd but I focussed on the finish line and let everything else melt away.

The Finish

According to my watch, I broke a 5:00/mile pace during the final stretch. This was easily the most emotional finish of a race I've run so far, and I have to admit, I may have shed a tear crossing the finish line.Similar to finishing the marathon, my legs gave up on moving as soon as I stopped running so the walk through the finisher's festival was rough. The Philadelphia pretzels were definitely a nice mood booster though and gave me the energy I needed to make it to the ACS tent.

ACS Finisher's Tent

Just like at the starting line, Team DetermiNation had their own tent at the finish line although this one was a little tougher to get to. I'm sure in reality it wasn't all that far from the finish but my legs were not happy about the walk. I met up with my mom at the tent who had been tracking me on course, she let me know that I'd clocked in an official time of 1:20:17, an average pace of 8:02.

I've been tossing around the idea of training hard for a half marathon in the fall and this race was definitely a big confidence boost. I've never really incorporated much speed work into my training, but my legs are feeling stronger than ever after marathon training.After Broad Street, I'm planning on giving my legs plenty of rest but am starting to eyeball goal races for the fall. I think if I can bring the same dedication to training for the half, I should have no problem breaking 1:40 in my next attempt! For now, I'm ready for an ice bath and am definitely looking forward to plenty of yoga and foam rolling over the next couple of weeks.

Cheers!

RunningMay 10, 2018