May 4th, 2008 Posted in Training Runs | 8 Comments »
Once again, I enjoyed the Broad Street run. The race continues to grow each year. This year there were 3000 more finishers (19K total). In the past, this has been THE RACE on my Spring schedule and it has been THE RACE that I trained for and measured my fitness against. While I’ve been running consistently in 2008, I haven’t been training. With that in mind, I knew that I wouldn’t be setting a PR this year.
My goal was 8 minute miles. I managed 8:04. My time was a full five minutes slower than last year. It was tough. I was definitely overheated, even though I opted for the shorts/tank top combo and I carried a bottle of gatorade. The race was fun. The crowds were good. There were several funny cheers from spectators. There were sleigh bells, cowbells and horns. Some of the student operated water stops were deafening. The sheer volume of runners was impressive.
I ran into Scott before and after the race. I particularily enjoyed sitting in the shade with him and cheering the last runners on. I didn’t see NY Flygirl, Reba or Seebo, though it’s really hard to pick people out of the crowd, especially people that you’ve never met in person. The finish area was a zoo, literally. They had a baby goat, rabbits and some other animals in petting zoo for children. In some ways, this year’s broad street was similar to my polar plunge. I wasn’t sure about it leading up to it. Once I was there, I was excited and I’m glad that I did it.
Here are some photos from the race.
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Wheelchair athletes
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Starting line
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Start - near the 8 minute pace sign
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The race has started - just not for us
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The masses
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City hall in sight
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Halfway
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Cirque du Soleil
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Finish
Gun 1:24:45
Chip 1:20:33
4268/19111
478/1477 35-39AG