Blue Dawgs Did Broad Street (A Report)

Pictured above are the members of the Blue Dawgs that did Broad Street (Eric, me, Kelly, Melissa). The second picture on the right is my vantage point looking at the starting line. The picture on the second row is my vantage of the people behind me at the start of the race. The gear buses are on the right.)

I made the offer to drive the Wednesday night running group down to the Broad Street run. Little did they know, the last time I made such an offer, I was late to the start of the race by 10 minutes. I had to feign my confidence that I knew what I was doing. Afterall, it had been 2 years since that incident and I had learned my lesson. Once you do these races year after year, you build up a routine.

So, Kelly was to meet at my house at 5:30a. Sure enough, at 5:30 sharp, she was there. Off to pick up Melissa and Eric at Melissa's house. We got there by 5:45a with Eric and Melissa in the driveway, anxiously waiting for our arrival. Eric asked me if I knew 'the way' to I-95 from Warrington. After my brief explanation of the route I was thinking of taking, Eric agreed with the plan. We were all packed in, raring to go.

We made the Wachovia Center parking lot by 6:30a. Plenty of time still. Afterall, the race didn't start until 8:30a. You have to take the subway up Broad Street to the start. It's when you are on the subway for awhile do you start to realize that 'geez, this is far'.

We get off the subway and Kelly and Melissa are looking for the buses to drop off their bags. Kelly's was easy enough. Just follow the numbers on the bus and, viola, there it is. Melissa, the same thing. Just follow the numbers and... wait a minute. 22000 doesn't follow 19500. Where's 21007?

Now at this part of the story, I feel sorry for the girl who was assigned to take the gear for race numbers 22000-22500. Because there were a lot of angry runners asking her where the &%$# is the bus for numbers 19500-22000? Her first answer was 'right next to me'. Um, no. She didn't know. But, that didn't stop people asking her, where the $%$^ is the bus for numbers 19500-22000? Finally, there was an official type of person who pulls out a map and says the buses are around the corner on Somerville. OK, this was planned? I mean there is a map and everything that states the buses were going to be out of order? At that point, I wished I was at the meeting that decided this to find out the logic behind it. I mean, there was logic there, right?

After our laps through the potty line, we were ready. I hadn't changed my strategy at all for the race. Anything under 1:30 for the day would be good. The weather had held out. It was cloud-cover with temps in the 50s (F). It was a little humid, but nothing we couldn't handle. You couldn't see City Hall, which was 6 miles away, because of the fog, but that was a good thing. It can psyche you out. I was set to go.

I started fast to test myself. The first mile was 7:45/mile. The second mile, I was trying to test my comfort level. Last year, I felt great and began to push harder. This year, I wasn't as comfortable. I backed down a bit but still had an approximate 25:00 for the first 5k.

Picture below is not a great picture of the people in front of me at about 3 miles into the race, around Temple University.

At around the 3 mile mark, I felt my legs started to cramp up. Not bad but again, I knew there wasn't going to be a PR that day either. Still, I was doing 8:30-8:45 miles so I was still on target.

If you do the same race enough times, you begin to learn the nuances of the course. I made the mistake last year of taking my one gel too late and looking for Gatorade to wash it down. Except I was passed the Gatorade station and had to run with this goo in my mouth. This year, I knew there was a Gatorade station around mile 6. So, I got my gel out and dropped it. For a split second, you think of the past trash and rats and germs that crossed that spot you dropped your gel. But, I NEED that gel and I'm running a race, so whatever illness I get from picking up my gel off Broad Street would have to wait. Then, I couldn't tear with my teeth! I stopped for a moment, tore the top off my gel, took a sip of Gatorade, looked up and, in front of me, stood the Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell. We high-fived. And, he began to cheer me on.

At mile 7, my leg cramps were getting a bit worse. I was at 59:00 for the race, so I knew I could do 10:00/miles and still reach my time. So, I backed off or fear that I would have to walk at the end. And, I didn't want to do that. With a mile to go, Kelly goes by me. We grunted hello to each other but didn't have time to chat as she sailed by me. I wanted to run in with her but she kept on getting further and further away from me.

The last half mile of the race is deceptive. You know the finish is at the Naval Yards. And, when you crest the last hill of the course, you see the entrance to the Naval Yards. The entrance looks like the finish. But you still have a quarter mile to go after the entrance. And, you still can't see the finish because its around the corner.

I knew I had the time I wanted. There was no need to sprint. I wanted to enjoy the moment. I wanted to take pictures of my vantage point as I approach the finish. Below is the best picture (hey, at least I got the finish line this time). I crossed at 1:26:21. Over 22,000 people signed up for the race. 19,000 finished. I came in 5386th place.

Kelly was waiting for me at the end. Eric and Melissa met us at our designated meeting point after the race. We sat there for awhile discussing our individual races. Melissa was a 'virgin' for the race, never running it before. It's always interesting to hear about what one thinks of a race like this after the first time.

We went back to my car, tired from our efforts but satisified that we made it. We ran into our friend, Chief, in the Wachovia Center parking lot, and wished he was with us in the beginning. No matter.

Usually, I run this race alone and don't have a chance to share my experiences with anyone. It was nice to able to share them this time with my friends.