jayruns wrote:
give us the year--i call BS. i've run there several times, i ran my PR the same year the CR was set there, and there is NO WAY there were more than 50 people under 51 minutes, i promise.
You got owned by MartyMoose.
How does it feel, bitch?
Since todays race results can all be found on the internet, in twenty years I won't be able to make up crazyass claims about how running was better in my days.
You bitter old bastards don't know how luck you are...
I've run it, 3 years ago, decent day.
My opinion:
The course is 30-45 seconds faster than a dead flat loop course.
feels good. reeeaallll good.
i'll eat my crow when i deserve it.
however, i would wonder about the accuracy of the course. not to denigrate marty's or anyone else's times that way! but 22 years ago, broad street was in its infancy; i think this year was the 26th or 27th year of the race. i wonder how accurate the course was in those days. i mean, 50 people under 51 minutes sounds insane. by comparison, papa john's the US championships for the last several years, had 12 guys break 51 minutes this year. (remember, no kenyans ran broad street in those days, either.)
yes, broad street is slightly downhill. i would agree with a previous poster that it is maybe 30 seconds faster than a comparable flat/loop course. but even 50 guys under 51:30 would be nuts.
again, not to be a jerk or to denigrate anyone's performances. i just wonder.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are a lot more races to choose from these days. That waters down the results for any given race.
As for this year's times, the weather was great, but one of my friends sent me an email today and said, "did you see the results? The top 100 was like a 'who's who' of local distance running!" implying that there were a LOT of good area runners that we knew who were in this race. Maybe I just know more runers now then I used to, but it did seem like a lot of the big dogs were out this year.
I went back to some old logs, and found that in 1981, I ran 57:40 and placed around 40th; in '82, I PR'd in 54:27, and while I didn't record my place, I'm sure it was an improvement over the prior year. That fall, I ran 1:11.28 in the Phila Distance Run, PR'ing along the way in 54:20, and placed 100th, in the strongest field to date in that race... every year I kept running faster, and moving back in the results! But unlike the Broad Street, PDR drew an entry list from NY to DC, and further. So, while I do agree that the fields these days seem positively anemic (2:34.40 in '79 got me around 440th, just ahead of Joanie... top 100 today), no Broad Street Run ever approached the times you've quoted. Memory is a funny thing.
The thing about the road races in PA is that many good runners in College (PSAC) do not run in those races - and we are talking about runners at Shippensburg, Edinboro, Indiana (PA) etc...and those runners are all in the 30:00-31:00 bracket which is pretty good (Cowan, Heflick, Medina, Shepard, and others)....and there are also a bunch of Bucknell runners who are good and in the 30:00-31:00 standard or better.
So the quality College guys do not waste their time running those races. They focus on track and cross country, because they know that once you start doing a lot of road races, you will lose some of your basic speed.
agreed...but how is that different from road races in other states? i can't think of many top collegiate guys i've seen running road races in-season, anywhere.
In the 80's Edinboro used to mix in occassional road races in to the Cross Country and Track Seasons.
After college I followed Greg's (Beardsley) lead and just focused on training to race well on all surfaces- Cross, Road, and Track. I ran very seriously for 4 years beyond college in an attempt to discover if I had Olympic material in me, during that time I ran track meets indoors and out, road races, three marathons and numerous national (world trials) cross country events. I am certain that mixing in a little of each made me the best racer I was going to be. I do not regret any of the events I raced and I know the answer to my question.
PSAC schools are not the only ones that have good runners. Broad Street drew heavily on local school talent, and post collegiate talent. St. Joe\'s, LaSalle, etc.
As for this course being short, fast, etc. 2 years ago 10th was 52:45. It was just a good day with alot of people running hard.