Broad Street Run 10 Miler Race Recap 2013

half legs / half heart.

Today I ran Broad Street. Something I haven’t done since 2009.

The Broad Street 10 Miler was my first real race. It was my first double distance digits. This was the race that really put me on the path to run 8 half marathons, 3 full marathons, a triathlon and countless other races along the way. {you can read more about all those races here} So needless to say, I have a soft spot in my heart for Broad Street.

In true pre-race fashion, I met up with Lauren in the corrals before the race. I hadn’t been training for this race like I would have liked to, and Lauren has been kicking ass and taking names in the cycling & trail running worlds so we didn’t plan to stay together during this race like we have for so many others.

Either way, it was fun to start the race side by side with my original running buddy.

We were both wearing our Red Socks for Boston – all the running stores in Philadelphia were urging Broad Street runners to wear Red Sox {get it?} to show support & send some love up North. It was nice to see that majority of the runners were excited to wear fun new socks to run in. I heard a few spectators say at the end of the race that it was a sea of red socks coming down Broad Street. Kinda cool, right?

We were also given stickers to wear on our hearts for race day.

The security today was seriously on point. There were people on the roofs of all the buildings around the starting area, making sure everyone was safe. There were also security helicopters the entire way down Broad Street from start to finish keeping an eye on things. You can see I snapped a picture of one in the photo below {under the street light} without even trying to. Police were everywhere too, I personally felt very safe.

And then before I knew it, we were off! I was lucky enough to be in a corral closed to the start, which is a good thing since I didn’t have to worry about weaving in and out of those runners keeping a slower pace.

Did I mention this is the largest 10 miler in the USA and there were 40,000 runners out today. 

Seriously, the start was just as nuts as all the other big races – it was a sea of people!

The first few miles went by pretty quick. I initially planned on keeping a little slower pace, with the hopes of saving myself some speed for the end of the race, but my body wanted to RUN. So I let myself run.

This was crazy – after 1.5 miles down Broad Street you could see City Hall – which is about the halfway point in the race. It was tough to see it so far away yet so clear in the distance and know just how far you still had to go.

But having run quite a few half marathons and a few marathons myself, the distance doesn’t scare me like it once did. I know I can run for a while, I know my body can take it. Being confident in that makes any race that much easier and more fun.

It turned out to be a beautiful day for the race. It was a little cold at the start but once we got running, the wind gave a cooling breeze at our sides and the sun popped out from behind the buildings giving some warmth. It was race day perfection.

I was excited once we passed the Divine Lorraine Hotel – it’s one of my favorite structures in Philly. I think its just so cool looking. So that entertained me for a while on the run.

Oh hey, we are already at City Hall.

I tried to take a few selfie’s {you know how much I love them} with City Hall behind me but I couldn’t get the best angle. Plus the crowds were crazy around this point.

The last photos I took during the race were as we were passing City Hall. I got to this halfway point in the race much quicker than I had planned, but I didn’t want to stop, I wanted to finish. So I put the pedal to the metal and ran for the Navy Yard.

Just like any other race I have run, I get towards the end of the race and the finish line just is always out of reach. I kept pushing myself to finish strong but it was tough. I had in my mind my previous Broad Street Run finish time {or what I thought it was} and I was trying to get as close to it as I could. This mental race with myself that last mile helped me finish strong.

And apparently, after coming home and checking it out – I was wrong about what I thought my previous PR was and actually beat it by 3 whole minutes! Victory!

Here are my stats from my Garmin:

• Mile 1 – 8:07
• Mile 2 – 7:51
• Mile 3 – 8:03
• Mile 4 – 8:10
• Mile 5 – 8:07
• Mile 6 – 7:55
• Mile 7 – 8:43
• Mile 8 – 9:03
• Mile 9  – 8:31
• Mile 10 – 8:07

Official Race 2013 Chip Time: 1:23:15 – 8:19/pace

Official Race 2009 Chip Time: 1:26:14 – 8:37/pace

I am so proud with my time for my race today. It felt great to get out there and run. I also love the 10 mile distance. It’s challenging without being too much. Overall it was a great day and I am so glad I ran. I can’t wait to add this medal to my collection!

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What’s your race PR you are most proud of?

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