Another Run Down Broad Street
Two weeks ago, in early May, history was once again on display in Philly when some 40,000 runners participated in the yearly tradition of Broad Street.
The annual Broad Street Run in Philadelphia isn’t the oldest or even necessarily the most famous race in our city. Still, it is a date marked on the calendar by athletes around Philadelphia each spring and around the globe.
Today, forty-five years since the first Broad Street run in the City, the interest and participation are at their peak.
PHOTO: Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run/Facebook
On the first Sunday of each year, runners gather in the morning hours and begin the ten-mile race at the Central High School Athletic Fields in the Logan section of the City. It’s not just a run of one of Philadelphia’s main thoroughfares — it’s a run through its history. Leaving from the front of Einstein Medical Center, runners sprint past Roman Catholic High School, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Kimmel Center, and City Hall.
At the beginning of Broad Street during June of 1980, the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run began with only 1,500 athletes.
By 2024, attendance had reached over 31,000, and this year, the venue had been expanded to accommodate 40,000 runners representing over 80 countries worldwide.
Only recently has the tradition of the Broad Street Run’s schedule been altered, including once to October of 2020 during the COVID year, and also in 2023 due to a Phillies Game conflict.
Culminating at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia, Broad Street has seen some incredibly memorable performances, including the mark for the fastest time, held by Raymond Magut of Kenya, with just over 45 minutes in 2023. The female record is just under 51 minutes, held by Cynthia Limo of Kenya. Tony Nogueira is the men’s wheelchair record holder from 2007, and Jessica Galli is the female record holder from 2001.
Philadelphia talent has done well in the race, too. Last year, Amber Zimmerman and Winter Parts finished at 52:52 and 52:39, respectively. Josh Fernandez finished with a time of 55:33, and Joe McGuire with a time of 49:42. In 1971 and 1972, two-time Catholic League Champion John Jennings finished in second place with an unofficial time of 52:45.
The weekend’s Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run will provide another opportunity for runners from all over the world to set their own best times.
For thousands of other runners and the fans who turn out to support them, it will be another opportunity to make some history of their own.
PHOTO: Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run/Facebook
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