Another weekend, another race. Sunday, May 4, 2014, I ran the Broad Street 10-Miler in Philadelphia for the first time. It is my last running race for the spring and was a great race to finish off the season.

The expo.

The expo was at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Friday and Saturday. I arrived too late Friday night to pick up, so Kayla and I went on Saturday after a mellow yoga class. We arrived around 10:30am and there were not a lot of people, and even better, no lines. The bibs were pre-assigned. I picked up my bib and my upgraded tech shirt (more on that) along with the goodie bag.

We did a quick parameter walk through the vendors. Dunkin Donuts was a sponsor for the race, so there were quite a few DD perks (coupons, coffee samples, DD rewards cards). Martins Rolls had the best freebie. It was a PB&J kit -- 2 slices of bread, individual jelly and peanut butter, a plastic knife, and wet nap in a cute little plastic bag. Overall, the expo was fine, but nothing memorable.

The premiums.

I upgraded from the cotton tshirt to the technical shirt that was gender-specific. Big mistake. Both shirts are ugly. The tech shirt was cheap, fits oddly, AND ugly. I will never do that again. Never. again. The goodie bag was nothing to write home about, so I won't. There was also a virtual goodie bag with discounts that went out through emails blasts earlier in the week.

The medal on the other had... loved it! This year was the 35th anniversary of the run and the medal appropriately had some glitz to celebrate.

The weather.

It was a cool start with the sun out and a light wind. The temperature was around 45 at the start and in the 60s at the finish.

The start.

The start area was at Broad Street and W. Fisher Avenue at 8am. We got to the start by taking the subway. It was free for runners. Very efficient! But, like everything else, crowded.

The corrals were very crowded, but that was to be expected for the biggest 10-miler. I crossed the starting line in 9 minutes, so once the race started it moved quickly.

There appeared to be plenty of port-a-potties and gear check was easy. You walked up to a school bus, the volunteer took your bag, put a sticker on the bag, and gave you a sticker with the bus number and bag number.

The course.

The race course is Broad Street. Just Broad Street. You run down Broad Street, take a right and then a left around City Hall, and then straight down Broad Street. It is nice small rolling hills and you get to see lots of different neighborhoods. The best part was probably standing at the start and seeing City Hall 6 miles away.

The course was crowded. 40,000 runners in 10 miles in a lot of people on the road. The entire Broad Street was closed, but there was still a lot of jostling. I don't know how many times I was bumped, more than I would like. The best was a woman yelling behind me "on your right" about 3 times, then bumping me on my left. She responded, "sorry, I meant left." What the what? If you are not much for a crowded course, then this is not a run for you. I didn't mind it because I was running this race for fun, with no time goals.

The support.

Many, many people out cheering for the race. We ran by Temple, which probably had the best cheering besides the last mile. There were bands playing and lots of drum corps. I don't think there was a block without someone cheering on the sidewalk. It really is the city's race!

Water and Gatorade were available about every two miles on the course along with some port-a-potties. There was no nutrition or food on the course.

The finish.

Like last week, this finish line area was like hitting a wall of people. As soon as I crossed the timing mat, there was an abrupt stop. I shuffled beside a sea of people about 500 feet, then was given my medal.

After picking up the medal, I got 2 bottles of water and my food bag with the Philly pretzel. The food bag was a grocery bag with an orange, banana, Tasty Cakes, some generic Teddy Grahams, and other items. It was great! So much food. I ate my pretzel while navigating the maze of the finish area. There were food vendors (hello again, DD) and lots of people sitting/hanging out. A band was playing. It took about 15 minutes to navigate to the gear check buses. Imagine an outdoor concert, that was the finish area.

We took the subway back to our hotel for free. Great perk!

My take.

Like some of my other runs this spring, I set no expectations. My plan was to run by how I felt. I matched my time for GW Parkway, which I was very happy about. This is a race that should be on everyone's bucket list. It is the largest 10-mile race in the US. For the price and support, it is well worth it. I paid $58 for the registration and that included the fees as well as the $15 upgrade for the tech shirt. My friends and I had a great time! I would definitely do this race again.

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