Many paragraphs on this website will likely be written about the Broad Street Run. By all accounts it's the largest 10 miler in the country, and rightfully the event that all races at this distance should be judged against. Also, it's a downhill run. Not that there's not hills to climb as well, but the net elevation gain is -170 feet over 10 miles. So that's already exciting.

To start, there's a lottery to get in. I'm fortunate that in my three attempts thus far to get into the race I've succeeded and secured a bib through the lottery system. That said, if you can't get in via lottery, they do have various fundraising efforts you can be a part of to become one of the 40,000+ runners to take to Broad Street.

The expo is fantastic, and full of various vendors both local and national. In the 2018 event (the last time I've been able to run it) there was a shoe drive to donate shoes to those less fortunate, which I really dug.

As for the race itself: I've run it three times. The first time it was hot out. The second time it was 45 and rainy. The third time was closer to the hotter side, but otherwise wasn't too bad until you got a little toward the end. The race was otherwise as it's been every other time for me: Pretty fantastic to run.

On race morning, there's ample parking by the arenas down toward the finish and an express, free of charge subway ride to the start. There's ample portajohns at the start, and despite the large mass of runners plenty of places to spread out and stretch.

With most big races you have some sort of "wave" system, and this race is no different. That said, there's only about 7 groups that go, so you're still part of a *very* large sendoff at the start. Finding your place in that group can be a challenge: Start up front with people faster than you and you run the risk of out-pacing yourself. Start in the back behind a ton of slower-than-you folks and you're going to be doing a lot of weaving.

My absolute favorite part of this race is the crowd. Probably 8 of the 10 miles in total has people lining the streets cheering everyone on. There are a few bands along the course, including the Temple University marching band right near halfway. When you get to the finish, the final mile is *packed* with folks cheering people on to give you a final solid kick to the finish.

Post-race, the snacks are fantastic, the baked pretzel is a nice touch! In all, this is probably my favorite race I've run every time I've run it. I tell anyone who enjoys running a longer distance that this should be a bucket list race for them.