Philly Broad Street run (10 miler)

There are a few hills in the first 4 miles, and the start is downhill. It's a pretty quick course, you should be able to run quicker than 7/mile on it. The problem will be the beginning of the race with so many runners...you may lose a bit of time weaving but if you bide your time the second half of the race is almost entirely downhill/flat.

Yes. It is the fastest course you will ever run for a 10M - 13.1K.

You are correct that it is straight with a gradual decline. Most of the drop is in the first 5 miles, but the last mile also has a nice drop at the finish. Some years you even get a tailwind the whole way.

On the conservative side I would say you should target 6:45 pace, if you ran 7 flat in your hilly half. If there is a nice tailwind, don't be surprised if you find yourself running in the 6:30s during the first half of the race. But, pay attention to conditions. Who knows what the weather will be like in early May. If it's warm and humid you may want to start right under 7 minute pace and gradually drop the pace and have fun picking people off as the race goes on.

Good luck!

It's a great race. Like others said, on paper it's one of the fastest 10 mile courses out there. However, it does tend to be slightly warmer than optimal on race day, which can catch up with you.

Be aware that getting out of the finish area post race can be a mess - high congestion from the race many times combines with whatever athletic event is scheduled at the stadiums near the finish to make stuff a mess.

darkwave wrote:

It's a great race. Like others said, on paper it's one of the fastest 10 mile courses out there. However, it does tend to be slightly warmer than optimal on race day, which can catch up with you.

Be aware that getting out of the finish area post race can be a mess - high congestion from the race many times combines with whatever athletic event is scheduled at the stadiums near the finish to make stuff a mess.

Usually a Phillies game so no worries about congestion since only 10 people attend the games this season. No playoffs for Flyers or Sixers so won't have that either.

Thanks -- this is encouraging and I'm excited for it.

It sounds like you think that 15 to 20 secs faster than a hilly HM pace would be about right. I think I've actually gotten into a little bit better shape since when I ran that half / dropped some weight.

Does it have any meaningful uphills, or is it all flat or downhill the whole way?

I don't have any experience running a gradual downhill grade for any material distance so I don't have a good sense for how that will impact fatigue as the race goes on. I would guess the optimal strategy is to keep cadence the same but open up the stride a bit.

I've run broad street 5 times. The most meaningful uphill (or rolling hills), to me, is between 4mi-6mi. There are rolling hills (200m up/200m down) when you pass Vine Street/Race Street. Definitely a nice incline as you get closer to City hall (the de facto half-way point). Then there is a little incline after you pass city hall, making the right turn back onto broad street. But it's nominal. You are not going to have to factor these hills into your race. My pace in every broad street run has been almost mile-to-mile consistent. The real challenge is not going out too fast at the start. A downhill plus the overall excitement makes it easy to get carried away. Finally, the finish line is it's own optical illusion. The race ends in the Navy Yard. However, about 400m before the finish line you will see the gated entry to the navy yard. After running almost 10 miles all-out in (what is likely to be) high humidity, the gate to the navy yard looks like it's own finish line, like a mirage in the desert. You will be tempted to start sprinting when you see this gate - DON'T. Keep the pace until you enter the navy yard, and you'll be thankful you didn't spend the last 400m trying to catch your breath. Good luck out there!!!

Bill ! See you out there!

I love the Broad Street Run. There are usually about 35,000 finishers (40,000 registered) and great crowd support.

The course drops about 100 ft in the first 5 miles and drops about 40 ft in the last 5 miles. There are some inclines in the first 5 miles, but nothing meaningful. You don't really need any experience running a slightly downhill grade. It is so slight that you don't really think, "oh this is a downhill". Running just feels a lot easier. I usually negative split throughout the race.

Elevation Profile:

http://runinfinity.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Broad_Street_Run_elevationmap.jpg

I recommend getting to the start early. The last time I ran it, my bib was for the fast corral, but I literally could not get through all the bodies because I took too long warming up on that track where all the porta potties are. I had to start in a later corral and weave through people for a few miles.

Bump.

Anyone else running this one next weekend?

Yes, what Brogan said. If by hill you mean 20 foot of elevation change over 1/2 mile, yes there are hills. Otherwise its flat, net downhill and as others have noted there is often a tailwind.

If you are struggling to get to your corral - a sub 70 minute time should have you in the Red corral (just behind Elite and Seeded) - just warm up on the streets E or W or Broad Street and then run past where the start is on Fisher, turn towards Broad and enter the corral from that direction instead.

Have fun. I'll be the guy drinking a beer at 9 1/2 miles waiting for our tailgate in FDR park to start.