Broad St Run 2011

It seems like May 1st came pretty quickly!  It doesn't seem like so long ago Amanda was trying to talk me into running the Broad St Run, I was looking for a training plan online, whining about how far 6 miles seemed, etc.  Race day started super early, I was in the shower by 5:45am!  We met Angela & Rob at their house around 6:45 and hopped in the car for the trek to Philly, we figured it would make things simpler taking one car because we wouldn't have to track each other down.  The boys parked by the starting line so we wouldn't have to fight the crowds on the subway, they took a few pictures of all the excitement and once we were running they moved to the finish line to meet up with my family.  I was so excited on Saturday night when I learned my sister & parents would be coming to watch me run!

Angela got us matching shirts to wear.  Not only did we look adorable but we were easy to spot.

We got our first taste of just how crowded the race would be as we walked toward the start line.

There were some characters wandering around waiting for the race to start.  This woman appeared to be wearing a trash bag & calf braces...

I knew of a few friends running the race and hoped to run into them but in a crowd of 20,000+ it didn't seem very likely.  You can imagine how surprised I was when I saw Amanda's husband and then Shana's friend Annie!  Annie even ran the first 4 or so miles with us!

I love this picture at the start of the race because Angela & I are both starting our garmin watches!

The run went really well!  We started a few corrals up from where we were assigned and manged to keep up with everyone, we even maintained a faster pace then usual through the whole race.  It was surreal to be running through the city and have complete strangers cheering for you.  I was also reminded of just how pretty parts of Philadelphia are.  When you drive you're concentrating on the traffic and don't get a chance to look at how beautiful the buildings are.  I made sure to take out my phone and get a picture as we ran by city hall.

The weather was beautiful, I couldn't have asked for a better day to run the 10 miles.  We finished in 1:48:44 (the clock has the time from when the first corral left the start line)!  I was hoping to come in under 2 hours so I am thrilled with our time!  Joe said it was really hard to get a good shot because so many people came through together :-(

He managed to get a picture of Amanda when she finished as well, I believe her time was around 1:40.  It was too bad we didn't get a chance to see her at the race, I sent a few texts but I guess she didn't have her phone on.

We got our medals and a bag full of snacks at the finish line then made our way to meet up with our crew.  I was so happy to be able to sit down!

The first thing Angela said after we crossed the finish line was, "See that wasn't so bad!  Are we going to do it again next year?"

Yeah, I think I will.

I love that the route is just a straight line and I can't get over our time per mile, so much faster then usual!